Going the Distance
by pleasedontstoptherainxx
Summary: Sequel to 'Getting There'. Between Brennan having a new partner, and her due date rapidly approaching, she and Booth's lives are being turned upside down. With all of the new stress, will their fears of growing apart begin to come true?
1. Always Means Always, Temperance

**A/N: Hello, all. =D I am very excited to get the ball rolling on this sequel, so I'm really hoping you all enjoy the first chapter. I'm going to warn you all now, the beginning _will_ be fluffy, and this story will probably be fluffy for a little while, but there is _going_ to be some pretty big angst at some point in the middle. I'm not really sure when yet.**

**To all of you who haven't read 'Getting There', you'll probably want to turn back. If you want to read this one alone, then I guess you can, but there will definitely be some things that you won't understand if you didn't read 'Getting There' first. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bones. It belongs to Fox, Hart Hanson, ect. Basically a ton of people who aren't me. xD This is strictly for entertainment purposes, so there's not copyright infringement intended here. **

Chapter One:

"Always Means Always, Temperance"

"So, sweetie, are you ready to explode yet?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Brennan and Angela were sitting in the Royal Diner having a late breakfast before work, which Angela would still argue that Brennan shouldn't be going to at all anymore, being seven and a half months pregnant. It felt like only a few weeks ago, little Christian Seeley Booth was only a tiny bump, able to be hidden by certain styles of clothing, but now his presence was very much known everywhere she went. It was almost as if every time she went out now she got at least one person asking when the baby was due, and she was growing very tired of all of it. She was growing tired of the baby kicking her constantly, the way she waddled when she walked, how often she had to go to the bathroom, and most importantly how she felt like her husband didn't find her sexy anymore, considering she was as big as a house.

"The baby. It's gonna pop out any minute now, right?" Angela rephrased.

"I still have over a month until I am due," Brennan reminded her, taking a bite of her eggs, "trust me, I wish I was going to 'pop' any minute now. I am so sick of being pregnant."

"You've just got to ride it out, like an earthquake," she told her, "trust me, when the baby is born, you're going to miss being pregnant."

"I don't think so, Ange," her tone was flat when she spoke, "and as much as I would like to complain about Booth right now, I don't think it would be appropriate, considering I haven't seen him in two weeks."

Angela had almost forgotten about Booth's little two-week-long FBI trip to Minnesota before Brennan mentioned it.

"Have you talked to him lately?" She asked.

"I spoke to him last night, but only briefly," she rolled her eyes when her friend gave her a disapproving look, "he's not there for personal pleasure, Ange. He has work to do. He can't just stay on the phone with me all night."

"I bet he's going nuts not being able to be here with you right now, so late in the pregnancy and all."

"Yes, and he is making it very well known that he is annoyed with it," Brennan's tone had a bitter twinge to it, "he complains about having to go out of town for work, yet he isn't the one with a baby kicking at his stomach every five minutes."

"So just because Booth isn't pregnant he can't be upset about something?"

"I am just sick of people complaining about petty things. My back hurts constantly, I can barely stand up from any place too low to the ground without help, and my husband doesn't even find me attractive anymore. How do you think _I_ feel?"

"Of course Booth finds you attractive," Angela had to laugh at her overly sensitive pregnant mind, "he loves you."

"How could he be attracted to me when I look like this?" She asked, gesturing towards her stomach, "I'm no longer his 'sexy squint', I'm some overweight woman who he happens to be married to."

"You're having a baby, Bren. I don't think he finds your baby weight as repulsive as you do. And besides, even if you did just get a little chubby, it wouldn't change his opinion of you."

"Well I just want to give birth already," she crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest, "and I'm sorry if I snapped at you, Ange. I'm horrible to everyone lately. I snap at you, I snap at Booth, I snap at Ricky."

"Ricky deserves it," Angela muttered under her breath.

"Ange," she warned.

"I'm sorry, but I just, can't stand that man," she seethed.

"He's so kind. I don't understand what you don't like about him. He's been nothing but nice to all of us, and you and Hodgins continue to act coldly towards him."

"I hate to break it to you, sweetie, but the whole 'nice guy' thing is just an act," Angela took a sip of her water before continuing, "he wants to get into your pants."

"When I'm seven and a half months pregnant?"

"Well obviously after the baby is born," Angela rolled her eyes, "and I swear, if he even tries to mess things up between you and Booth, I'll-"

"Nothing is going to happen," she set her fork down unceremoniously, "honestly, Angela, do you really think that lowly of me? Do you think I'm just some, tramp, who'll sleep with whomever she's currently working with? Because, in case you forgot, I'm married," she held her hand up to show her the ring, reminding her of her relationship status, "to Seeley Booth. And I love him."

"I wasn't saying-"

"I don't care what you were saying," Brennan cut her off sharply, wincing in discomfort when the baby kicked at her again, "just stop. Ricky is my partner now, and there's nothing you can do about it. You can kick and scream all you want but it isn't going to change things. You know I'd rather be working with Booth, but I can't, and I've adjusted."

"Wow, Hurricane Temperance hitting D.C.," Angela had been letting her off easy lately, knowing she was only cranky from the hormones, but was growing quite sick of her attitude, "I understand you're pregnant, but you need to cool it with the attitude. Go home and take a hot bath or something."

Brennan sighed and placed her hand on her stomach, hoping it would relax Christian a bit, since he was being relentless.

"I can't, I have to meet with Ricky so we can put our notes together," she stood up slowly, tossing her money onto the table, "I'm sorry for yelling at you, Ange. I really am."

Angela smiled, unable to stay mad at her for too long.

"Apology accepted," she smiled up at her.

Brennan smiled back.

"Breakfast is on me. I'll see you when I get back to the lab."

"Alright. Bye, sweetie," she told her, touching her friend's stomach gently with the tips of her fingers, "bye, Christian."

Brennan laughed lightly as she gave Angela a small wave before leaving the diner. All of her friends had been obsessing over touching her stomach lately, wanting to feel the baby kick or just talk to it, and she honestly didn't mind. She figured she would, the thought of having people constantly touching her not seeming appealing, but, since they were her friends, and their intentions were good, she didn't mind. The only person who she spent a lot of time with who hadn't tried to touch her stomach was Ricky, and that was probably because he was afraid Booth would break his hand if he did.

But she was proud of how good Booth was being with her having a new partner. He had been supportive, and he never complained, which she was thoroughly surprised by. The worst thing he had done so far was misinterpret Ricky's 'is she good?' question, and nearly broke his jaw because of it before Brennan explained that he meant professionally, and not sexually. The thought of her husband managed to make her feel gloomy again. She missed him, more than she was willing to admit, and, at the moment, the only thing she wanted was for him to come home.

* * *

><p>"Okay, Ricky," Brennan laughed, as she held the phone between her shoulder and her ear, putting the plate she just cleaned back in the cabinet, "yes, I'll see you tomorrow," she laughed again, "no, I'm not going to go into labor while we're working," she paused as he spoke on the other end, "okay. Goodnight, Ricky."<p>

Brennan hung up her phone and set it on the counter as she dried off her hands and went into her bedroom to change. It was strange being in the apartment without Booth. The space was so representative of him, and when she went to go lay in their bed, she half expected him to be there. After she turned the light on in the room, she unbuttoned her dress shirt and shrugged it off her shoulders, replacing it with one of her husband's t-shirts before she changed into sweat pants and climbed under the covers. Even though midnight was not extremely late, it was later than she had been staying up lately, so when she laid down, she began to drift off within minutes. And as she fell asleep, she heard her cell phone ring, but was already too far gone to even care.

* * *

><p>Brennan had been asleep for about an hour and a half when she jumped up, startled out of her sleep by the sound of the front door opening. Her breathing was erratic, and her heart was pounding, as she heard it shut again. Cautiously, she slipped out of bed, smoothing out the shirt she was wearing as she quickly grabbed her hard-covered book off the night stand, just incase she needed to defend herself. As she opened her bedroom door, making her way silently out to the living room, she could hear the far off sound of, what sounded like, a gun being unloaded. She felt around the wall for the light switch, her heart pounding as she flicked it on. Without saying a word, Brennan dropped her book and threw her arms around the man standing in the doorway with the duffel bag.<p>

"Hi," Booth laughed, dropping his bag on the floor as he stumbled slightly backwards from the impact of his wife, "hi, Bones."

"You're home," Brennan murmured into the fabric of his shirt, "I missed you."

"It's late, baby," he kissed her head softly, stroking her hair, "why aren't you asleep?"

"I woke up when you opened the door. I get nervous when I'm the only one here."

Brennan looked up at him with adoring eyes, cupping his face between her hands and pulling him down so their lips could touch for the first time in two weeks. She sighed into the kiss, urging his lips apart with her own, smiling when he happily complied. She pulled away only to start tugging on the buttons of his shirt, managing to get a few open.

"Mmm, Bones," he groaned when she kissed his neck, helping him out of his jacket, "Bones, I love you, and I missed you, but we can't make love."

"I know," she sighed, pulling away from his neck, to look at his face, noticing, only then, how exhausted and worn out he looked, "are you okay, Booth?"

"I'm fine," he promised, "it's just been a long couple of weeks."

"I'm sorry," she stroked the side of his face comfortingly, "if you need space..."

"No, Bones, I don't need space," he laughed lightly, hearing her let out a small sound of shock when he lifted her up into a bridal style position, "come on, up you go."

As he carried her back to their bedroom, Brennan pressed her lips back against the side of his neck, unable to get enough of him that night. Even though she could feel the cords in his neck relax under her lips, she couldn't help but notice the small sounds of discomfort he made.

"You know, I'd appreciate it if you didn't grunt like you're lifting a truck while you carry me."

"I'm sorry, Bones, but you're just getting a little heavy for this," he chuckled, grateful that she left the door to their bedroom open as he carried her inside and set her on top of the covers.

"Well I never asked you to pick me up."

When she was settled on the mattress, Brennan reached for him again, only to be disappointed when he didn't comply with her wishes.

"Let me change first," he requested, seeing her nod as he began to shed his clothing, aware, in the room that was only lit by the little bit of moonlight shining through the window, that he was being watched by his wife, who was lying propped up on her elbow, watching the way the muscles in his back rippled when he pushed the dress shirt off of his shoulders.

She was slightly disappointed that he didn't decide to go shirtless that night, as she watched him pull the black t-shirt over his head. Knowing that she should probably stop just creepily staring, she struck up conversation.

"What did you do in Minnesota?" She asked, able to hear the 'click' of his belt buckle being undone and the sound of the zipper on his pants lowering.

"Absolutely nothing," his tone was bitter, as he stepped out of the dress pants and tossed them into the hamper in the corner of their room, "there is absolutely nothing to do there other than freeze to death."

"Well you're still here, so I'm having a hard time believing you froze to death," she slipped herself under the covers, hating when he confused her like this.

Booth huffed as he pulled on a pair of grey sweat pants.

"It's a hyperbole, Bones. Just take my word for it, in the middle of nowhere in Minnesota, not a great place to take a vacation."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Brennan closed her eyes as she turned back onto her side, smiling subconsciously when he joined her and she felt his arms wrap around her waist the best they could with her belly in the way. She took his left hand and looked down, admiring the ring on his finger.

"Can you lay on your back?" She asked, after only a few minutes of cuddling.

"Why?" Booth asked, skeptically.

"Because this isn't very comfortable for me anymore, and I'm assuming it isn't comfortable for you anymore either, considering you have to stretch your arms all the way across my stomach," she explained, "just lay on your back and I'll rest my head against your chest."

"If you say so," he complied, turning over onto his back, feeling her turn as well to rest her head against his chest, his arm instinctively finding it's way around her shoulder, "better?"

"Yes," Brennan slid her hand up the front of his shirt, pressing her palm to his abdomen.

He initially jumped a little at the feeling of her cool hand against his warm body, but quickly adjusted, as she rubbed his skin in small, slow circles.

"You're really into me tonight," he laughed lightly, feeling the muscles in his stomach tense when she scratched her nails gently against where her hand was resting.

"I missed you," she reminded him, "you were gone for two weeks. That's the longest I've gone without seeing you in a very long time."

"It's almost been a year," his voice was soft and soothing in her ear, "how crazy is that? Valentine's Day is in a little over a month."

"February 13th of last year was the last night I slept alone, aside from the last two weeks, and when I was kidnaped, and when we had to pretend to be broken up and you got blown up and put in the hospital, but I don't think those count, because we didn't choose to sleep alone."

"Nah, those don't count," he agreed, "February 13th was the last time we slept alone."

Brennan sighed as she thought back on their relationship, kissing the top of his fabric covered chest softly. She turned his hand over to examine the tattoo on the inside of his wrist, pressing a soft kiss to the ink.

"I wish we didn't have to work tomorrow," she said aloud, using her finger to trace over his tattoo after she kissed it, "you shouldn't be working tomorrow. You're exhausted and need to rest."

"I'll be fine," he assured her, "I'll get rested up tonight."

"It's already two in the morning," she reminded him, "so, even if you fell asleep right this second, you'd only get four hours of sleep."

Booth laughed and ran his fingers through her hair, tilting her head up so her lips could meet his in a soft kiss.

"Don't worry about me, baby. I'll be fine."

"Booth, we've been together for almost a year and have been married for almost four months, yet you still insist on calling me baby, no matter how many times I ask you not to."

"I'm sorry, Bones," his voice was apologetic as he kissed her again.

Brennan responded physically, rather than verbally, kissing him again, making sure to keep it soft, not wanting to get either of them too worked up, considering they couldn't be intimate again until after Christian was born. When he encouraged her lips apart with his own, she gently broke their contact, running a hand over the side of his face.

"You should sleep," she whispered.

"I probably should," he reluctantly agreed, kissing her forehead, "but, uh, let's do lunch tomorrow. Wong Fu's?"

"Oh, I can't, I'm having lunch with Ricky tomorrow," she said, casually, unable to see his smile fade, since her eyes were already closed.

"Ricky," he kept his tone light, forcing a chuckle, "you two are getting, close."

"I like him, he's very kind," she told her husband honestly, speaking again after a short pause, "Angela hates him because he's not you. And she makes it very known. I feel bad for him, in all honesty. He's nice to her, and the rest of the team, but they don't seem to like him."

Booth was silently grateful that they hadn't all just forgotten about him. He thought of them as his squints, after all, and apparently they saw it the same way.

"They'll just need some time," he told her, his fingers running absentmindedly through her hair as they lay together, "they didn't like me at first either. They'll warm up to him."

"It's been two months, Booth," she reminded him unsurely.

"It took them more than two months to get used to me. Hell it took _you_ more than two months to get used to me. But with Ricky, you guys are pals already. Lucky him. He didn't have to go through the hate period."

"Booth, don't get jealous. It's very unattractive."

"Jealous? Who's jealous?"

"You are."

"Bones, I'm not jealous," he laughed lightly, kissing her head once again, "we don't work together anymore, so what? I'm well aware of who you come home to at night," he opened his eyes and looked down at her, seeing that her eyes were open now as well, looking up at him, "you don't cuddle up with Ricky like this, or run your hands over his stomach the way you're doing to me now. And honestly, Bones, I'd rather have this than a partnership."

"Me too," she agreed, turning her head so she could kiss his chest again before she laid her cheek back against his chest, closing her eyes once again, "I love you."

"I love you too," he assured her, twisting a lock of auburn hair around his finger, "and I always will."

"Always?" She asked softly, "What if we broke up?"

"Always means always, Temperance," he promised.

"Then I will _always_ love you too," she smiled, nuzzling the crook of his neck softly, taking a few minute pause before she spoke again, "Booth?"

"Mm," he mumbled, in his half asleep stage.

"I would like to go to dinner with you tomorrow night, since we can't do lunch."

He smiled, a small chuckle rumbling his chest.

"Okay, Bones," he mumbled, and with those last words, the two of them drifted off into a long awaited sleep.


	2. It Was Just a Dream

**A/N: Yay =] I'm glad you guys are liking the sequel so far, and I was very excited by the amount of alerts/reviews/other nice things I received. This chapter's pretty short, but it's something, so hopefully you guys are satisfied. xD**

**Also, I got a couple questions last chapter, so I'll answer them here. What is my theory on last episode? Er, I'm actually not sure what's going on with B&B. I was convinced they slept together the night the episode aired, but after getting my shipper-ness under control and thinking about it objectively, they probably didn't, just because Hart and Company love to torture us. xD And I found Mr. Nigel Murray's death very, very sad. I cried for a while because of that. He was one of my favorite squinterns (along with Wendell and Daisy) and his death scene kind of broke my heart. And the 'Lime in the Coconut'? Don't even get me started. I was crying so hard you'd think someone just ran over my cat. xD**

**The second question was 'Why can't Brennan and Booth have sex?'. The answer to that one is because I heard that late in a pregnancy you're not supposed to have sex because it could induce premature labor. Now, I got information from someone else saying that it was okay, as long as the woman was healthy and was having a healthy pregnancy, so if anyone else has input on that, I'd be happy to listen, because now I'm really not sure. xD I'm not exactly the pregnancy expert. The majority of my information is thanks to Google. xD**

Chapter Two:

"It Was Just a Dream

"_Booth._"

Booth woke up when he felt his wife's elbow dig into his rib cage, causing him to wince in pain and open his eyes.

"Booth, please, no," Brennan's voice was panicked, "please...don't."

Booth turned over onto his side, seeing that she was shifting restlessly, mumbling in her sleep. She talked in her sleep often, but usually not about him. And he was positive that she was never begging him not to do something. Not wanting to scare her by shaking her shoulder, he moved his hand to run his fingers gently through her hair.

"Bones, baby, it's just a dream," he kept his voice soft, "come on, baby. Wake up."

"Don't, I...I," her sleep ridden voice was frantic, "I can't...I can't."

"It's okay, Bones. Wake up. You're dreaming. Everything is okay," he shook her shoulder gently now, coaxing her out of her sleep.

She sucked in a deep breath when she woke up, her eyes shooting open and her heart pounding in her chest.

"Booth," she blurted out, her hand reaching out to search for him.

Brennan relaxed slightly when his hand took hers comfortingly.

"I'm right here," he promised, pulling her close as she sighed in relief and buried her head in his chest, "I'm right here. I've got you."

Brennan nodded as he sat up straight, pulling her with him so his back could rest against the headboard and her head could rest against his chest, their fingers lacing together. They sat in silence for a few minutes, since Booth knew she needed a minute to collect herself, his fingers stroking her hair gently as she stared at the wall.

"You wanna talk about it?" He finally asked.

Brennan shook her head, a few tears subconsciously streaking down her cheeks.

"Okay," he whispered, one hand stroking her hair and the other holding hers, as she pressed her cheek against his chest, never breaking her gaze from the wall as she breathed in his scent, "you don't have to, okay? Just relax."

Brennan unlaced their fingers so she could stroke his torso gently, her eyes closing as she repeated the constant motion, a few tears wetting the shirt he was wearing.

Booth wished that this didn't happen as often as it did. There were several time when she'd have nightmares, and he'd have to hold her and tell her it was going to be okay for a while before she relaxed. He hated seeing her like this. It made him want to kill every person who messed with her head throughout her life. But, apparently, it was him messing with her head now. She was begging him to stop in her sleep, begging him not to do something. He couldn't even begin to guess what she was dreaming about that had made her so afraid of him.

"Can we lay back down?" Her voice was quiet when she spoke her first words since she became conscious.

"Yeah, of course," he shifted them so they were laying again, as she cuddled up to his side, her head still nestled into his warm chest, "just go back to sleep, baby. Everything is okay. It was just a dream."

Brennan nodded in agreement as her eyes closed again. And even though she wouldn't tell him, she was afraid to fall back asleep, not wanting to drift back into the horrible nightmares.

* * *

><p>The shrill sound of Booth's alarm clock going off in the morning woke both of them up, the sun barely peeking through the blinds when they were jolted out of their sleep.<p>

"Booth," Brennan mumbled against his shoulder.

"I know, I know," he groaned, reaching over her to shut the alarm, making it peacefully quiet in their bedroom once again.

They lay in quiet for a few minutes, needing a little bit after they woke up to get their bearings before they tried to speak to one another.

"Morning," Booth said, after a few minutes, turning his head to look at his wife, choosing not to bring up last night's incident.

"Good morning," she couldn't help but laugh when he moved down to place soft kisses against her t-shirt covered stomach.

"And good morning to you too, Christian," his voice sounded genuinely happy when he addressed the baby, "were you nice to mama while I was gone?"

"No, he was not," Brennan answered on behalf of the unborn child, "he kicked me relentlessly. I think he wants to get out of there."

"Well he's been stuck in there for almost eight months," Booth tickled her belly gently, causing her to squirm just a little, "don't you worry, little man. You'll be out soon."

"And I am looking forward to that day," Brennan laughed lightly.

"I know it's tough, Bones, but it's just a little while longer," he attempted to comfort her, his fingers still tracing over her stomach, "it'll be worth it, I promise."

"I know," she assured him, "I love him. I just want him to be out so I can hold him, and so he's not inside me, kicking and moving constantly."

When he was about to respond, Brennan's phone began to ring from the other room.

"Don't get that," Booth requested, leaning his forehead against her shoulder.

"I have to, it might be important," she nudged him gently off of her and got out of bed, kissing his forehead once she was up, "go back to sleep. You're still tired," she walked, or rather waddled, to the kitchen to get her phone, picking it up off the counter and flipping it open, "Brennan."

"Hey, Temperance, sorry I know it's early," Ricky's voice was soft on the other end of the phone, "did I wake you up?"

"No, it's fine, I was already awake," she assured him, covering her mouth to yawn as she started the coffee for her husband, even though she couldn't have any, considering she had heard caffeine was bad for the baby, "I'm assuming there's something you need."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I know it's probably inconvenient, but I might need to steal you a couple hours early today," he said apologetically, "I just wanted to tell you now so you weren't surprised when I just showed up at the lab like, ten minutes after you got there."

"Oh, I appreciate it," she laughed lightly, watching the coffee drip into the pot for a few seconds before going to get herself a glass of water, "everyone at the lab would probably think you had some sort of secret agenda for showing up early if you hadn't told me."

Ricky laughed.

"They don't like me very much, do they?"

"No, not really," Brennan told him, honestly, "which I find strange because you don't insult them and call them squints the way Booth used to. I would have imagined them liking you better than Booth because of that."

"Maybe if I tried insulting them they would like me better," he joked.

Brennan laughed, taking a sip of her water.

"Maybe," she agreed, joking as well, as she made her way back into she and Booth's bedroom to start getting ready, lowering her voice when she was back in the room with the sleeping FBI agent, "I'm going to start getting ready now, so I'll be at the lab by the time you come to get me."

"Why are you speaking so quietly?" Ricky asked, skeptically, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course, I just don't want to wake Booth up," she told him, as she quietly took something to wear out of the closet.

"Oh, Booth's back?"

"Yes, he got back last night. And he get's snippy when awoken."

"I'm awake, Bones," Booth informed her, his voice startling her.

Brennan turned to him as she started to change.

"Go back to sleep," her voice was still soft.

"What? Why?" Ricky asked from the other end of the line.

"I'm sorry, Ricky, I wasn't speaking with you. I was speaking with Booth."

"Oh, right, not really sure where my head was at," Ricky laughed, "well, I'll let you go then, 'cause I'll see you in a while and I'm sure you want to spend time with your husband before you have to leave and all."

"No, I would like him to go back to sleep, but he's not going to listen," she laughed a small laugh, well aware that he could hear her talking about him from ten feet away.

"You know Booth. He doesn't take orders very well," Ricky laughed.

"No, he does not," Brennan agreed.

Booth rolled his eyes as he turned over onto his side, his gaze fixed on the wall.

"Alright, so I'll see you in a little while," he heard his wife speak to her partner, giving him another small laugh and saying goodbye before she hung up.

He heard her shuffle around for a little while longer, before she sat back on their bed, reaching over to run her fingers through his hair. Booth didn't turn to look at her, just closed his eyes and embraced the comfortable feeling.

"Booth?" She whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Please go back to sleep," he was surprised by the politeness of her request, "you're exhausted. You've had a very long two weeks and you need your rest."

He turned to look at her now, a small smile on his face.

"I have to go to work," he reminded her.

"Go in late."

"Bones, I can't."

"I will tell Cullen that I told you to," she offered, "I really don't care if he's angry. He already hates me."

"He doesn't hate you," Booth assured her, "hate's a really strong word. He's just...not really your biggest fan."

Brennan laughed lightly and laid back down next to him, even though she was already fully dressed in her work clothes, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling into his back. She moved one hand to stroke his bicep as she snuggled with him, hoping that the closeness would lull him back to sleep.

"Bones?" He asked, receiving a soft huff, since she knew he was purposely not cooperating, keeping himself fully awake.

"Yes, Booth?"

"What did you dream about last night?"

Brennan tensed up at the words, but covered it up with an uncomfortable laugh.

"Why do you care?"

"Because it was about me," he gently nudged her off of him so he could sit up straight, looking her in the eyes, letting her know that this was now a serious conversation, "you kept saying 'Booth, don't'. I want to know what I was doing."

"You weren't doing anything," she mumbled.

"Then why was my name the only one coming out of your mouth?"

"I don't know, Booth. I barely remember what the dream was about. Please, just let it go."

Feeling slightly irritated that she was refusing to cooperate, and just tell him what she dreamed about so they could put the whole thing behind them, he stood up and scanned through the closet to find a grey suit.

"Now you're going to be angry with me because I don't remember what I dreamed about last night?" She asked.

"I'm not mad, Bones, and even if I was, it would be because you're lying more than anything else," she could tell by the tone of his voice that, even though he may not have been mad, he was highly annoyed, "I know you remember, and you just don't want to tell me."

"Because it was just a stupid dream, and I don't want to talk about it."

He didn't respond, only pulled the t-shirt over his head and tossed it into their little hamper before he went to find a dress shirt in the drawer. Brennan stood up as well, contemplating just telling him so they didn't have this tension between them, but decided not to. She wasn't sure why he cared to much anyway, other than the fact that he sometimes just felt like he needed to know everything, kind of like Angela. As a peace offering, Brennan wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing his shoulder blade softly, able to feel him relax just slightly under her touch.

"Do you love me?" She asked, her soft voice muffled by his skin.

"Of course I do," he kept his voice soft as well, attempting to look over his shoulder at her, "you know that."

Brennan nodded against his skin.

"I love you too," she kissed his shoulder once again, "probably more that you're aware of, because of the way I act."

"Bones, the way you act confuses me sometimes, but I never doubted that you love me," he promised, "I just wish you would open up to me. We've been together for almost a year, we're married, and we're going to have a baby soon, but you still won't let your walls down. And it's just a little frustrating."

"I've let my walls down."

"Not all of them. You still clam up every now and then and try to push me away."

"It's hard for me, Booth. You have to understand that," she used her thumb to trace the scar on his hip from when he was a child playing with Jared, "I try."

"I know you do," he sighed, "and I get that."

With a small sigh, Brennan let go of him and moved herself so they were facing each other, as she reached up to touch his cheek.

"We're okay, right?" She asked, looking up at him with innocent eyes.

To her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and kissing her temple softly.

"We're more than okay," he confirmed, "but I'm glad we talked, even though you still won't tell me what you dreamed about."

"Maybe I will tell you later," she tried, "after dinner. But don't count on it," she leaned up to kiss him softly before wiggling her way out of his arms, "I have to go to the lab. Ricky's coming early today and-"

He cut her off with a kiss, not wanting to hear anymore about Ricky.

"Okay," he laughed lightly, "Wong Fu's tonight, right?"

She smiled and kissed him one last time.

"It's a date."


	3. I Guess Sometimes We Get Lucky

**A/N: Woot! Two days in a row. xD I thank biology testing in my school, since I got to go in late today and had some time to write this morning. So in this chapter, Booth discusses his feelings on the Brennan/Ricky partnership with Sweets, and we learn a bit about Ricky's love life. =]**

**I got asked: What do I think of this week's episode? I don't think it will be as intense as last week's, and I have a feeling the 'thing we were never expecting' will probably not be as big a deal as I'm hoping it is, but I am excited for the birth of baby Hodgela. =] I just really hope he or she doesn't come out blind. **

Chapter Three:

"I Guess Sometimes We Get Lucky"

Cullen flipped through Brennan and Ricky's file, looking intent on reading the words before he looked up and offered them a satisfied smile.

"You two are really working well together, I see," he praised them.

"Brennan and I, we're quite a team," Ricky smiled, putting a friendly arm around her shoulder, "it's like we've been working together for years."

"I'm glad you two are getting along and getting the job done," Cullen closed the file and handed it back to Ricky, "keep up the good work. You guys are free to go."

"Oh, thank God, I'm starving," Ricky laughed, as they left Cullen's office, closing the door behind them, "where do you want to go for lunch? Because I'm kind of in the mood for a big diner burger and some fries."

"Yeah, sure, the diner sounds fine," she nodded, brushing his question off quickly as they passed the office of her husband, "listen, Ricky, do you mind if I say hello to Booth real quick?"

"No, of course not. Just don't stay too long or else my stomach might eat itself."

Brennan laughed as she knocked on the door that read 'Special Agent Seeley Booth', waiting for him to give her permission to enter before she opened the door.

"Hey," Booth's smile was radiant when he saw his former partner, standing up and walking around his desk to pull her into a hug, "I, wasn't expecting you."

"I figured I'd surprise you," she shrugged, barely noticing that she was being unintentionally seductive, "you're probably bored doing all this paperwork. I thought maybe I would make your day a little more interesting."

"You know I never mind your company," he smiled, taking her hands to lace their fingers together, "so what are you up to?"

"Ricky and I just gave our notes to Cullen, now we're going out to lunch, and then I'll head back to the lab to probably do nothing because Angela won't let me work."

Booth laughed.

"Angela's always looking out for you, isn't she?"

"More like she's always being overprotective," she smiled when he pulled her close by the hands, "she's kind of like you in that way."

"Well then thank her for me," he kissed her forehead, seeing her nose scrunch up when he did, "ever since we stopped working together I feel like you've been doing dangerous things behind my back."

Brennan laughed and rolled her eyes, touching his jawbone.

"No, I'm too pregnant to be doing dangerous things," she laughed, leaning in to kiss the side of his neck softly, "you know I wouldn't risk the safety of Christian."

"Well, now I don't have to be worried at least," he laughed awkwardly, the simplest brush of her lips against his pulse point enough to make him tense, "the only thing I have to worry about now is getting a call that you're in labor while I'm-oh, Bones, what are you doing?"

He shivered when her tongue touched his skin.

"Kissing you," she said, simply.

"Don't you have a lunch to get to?"

"Ricky can wait a few minutes."

Booth laughed awkwardly again, his eyes shutting on their own accord as Brennan left open-mouthed kisses up and down the side of his throat. When he felt her hands moving down his abdomen, feeling around for his 'cocky' belt buckle, he swatted her hands away.

"Baby, what are you doing?" He laughed.

"I want you," she purred against his skin, "I want you to take me on the desk."

"You're hormonal," it was painful to reject her at the moment, especially since it was month two of abstinence, and she was whispering naughtily in his ear, "just, take a deep breath, relax, and get your hands away from the belt buckle, alright?"

"I want to touch your stomach."

"Bones," he had to laugh, forcing himself not to blush, "that's a bit of an odd request."

"With my mouth."

"Bones!"

When she tried to untuck his shirt, Booth moved her hands again.

"Bones, relax," he knew his voice sounded about three octaves higher than normal, "you can touch my stomach when we get home, alright? With your hands, or your mouth. Whatever you want."

"Fine," Brennan smoothed her hands down his chest, fixing his jacket for him, "I guess you're right. It's just, we haven't been intimate in two months, and-"

"I know," he assured her, holding her by the shoulders, his hands smoothing down her biceps, "I miss it too."

"I'm glad it's not just me," she smiled, kissing his cheek, "would you like me to bring you something back from the diner?"

"Nah, I've got my potato chips," he laughed, letting go of her.

"Will that be enough?" She asked.

"Yeah, it'll be plenty. Gotta save room for dinner."

Brennan laughed offering him a small smile.

"I've gotta go, I left Ricky out there for a while."

"Yeah, you should probably get to lunch."

They said goodbye before she left, meeting Ricky back outside before they started towards the diner, bumping into Sweets on the way.

"Oh, hey, Doctor Brennan, Agent Hernandez," he smiled.

"Hiya, Doctor Sweets," Ricky patted him on the shoulder on their way out, as Sweets made his way to Booth's office.

When he opened the door, he found Booth pulling on a bag of potato chips, sitting back at his desk, attempting to open it. He tugged a little harder with a huff, barely realizing that Sweets was now in his office, until his voice startled him.

"Agent Booth?"

The top of the potato chip bag popped open as Booth jumped in surprise and the bag escaped from his hands, chips scattering around the small space on his desk.

"Dammit, Sweets," he huffed, "there goes my lunch."

"Sorry, sorry," Sweets held his hands up in a surrender, feeling slightly intrigued by Booth's behavior, "don't mind me asking, but is something bothering you? You seem tense."

"No, no, of course I'm not _tense_," he put emphasis on the word, making sure his sarcastic tone did not go unnoticed by the psychologist, "I mean, my wife just spends all her time with another man, that's all. And she'll probably go into labor and I won't be there. But other than that, I'm just, chipper."

"Agent Booth, sarcasm doesn't help," Sweets warned him.

"I know, I know," Booth brushed a hand through his hair and let out a long huff, "I'm sorry, Sweets, I'm just, a little on edge lately."

"Oh?"

"I can't help but feel like Bones and I aren't as close as we used to be. But, that could just be my mind playing tricks on me, right? Because I've been away for two weeks and all?"

"You've been gone for quite some time, it's normal that you would feel like you're growing apart. But it's temporary. It'll go away as soon as you two start spending time together again."

"Which is impossible to do because she's always with Ricky."

"Ah, so this isn't about _you_ and Doctor Brennan," Sweets took a seat, seeing that he would probably be there longer than he planned, "this is about _Ricky_ and Doctor Brennan."

"She likes him better than me."

Sweets laughed.

"That's not true. She's married to you."

"Let me rephrase," Booth corrected himself, "she loves me, but she'd rather spend time with Ricky," he looked at the psychologist desperately, "I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, Sweets. Am I boring or something? Is Ricky more interesting than me?"

"She probably just wants to bond with her new partner. It doesn't mean she likes you any less. You told me a few months ago that you never doubted how she felt about you."

"I don't doubt that she loves me, but I just wish we could spend a little more time together, that's all," Booth shrugged, "but if I bring it up, she'll just get annoyed and say I'm getting jealous of Ricky."

"Are you jealous of Ricky?"

"I'm not jealous of _him_, but I'm jealous that he gets to spend more time with Bones than I do. I mean, Ricky's my friend. I know he would never try anything with Bones, you know, romantically speaking, but it just gets under my skin that the majority of her time goes to him. And I try not to take it out on him, because it's not really his fault. It's not either of their faults. It's damn Cullen's fault for splitting Bones and I up in the first place."

"She loves you, Booth," Sweets assured him, "there's nothing for you to worry about."

"I'm not worried," Booth murmured, looking back to his papers for a moment before turning his attention back to Sweets, "listen, Sweets, I know this is a little, strange, but there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"I'm all ears," he said.

"I'm a little, tightly wound, lately," Booth told him, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I noticed. But we just discussed this. It's because you're feeling as if you and Brennan are growing apart, correct?"

"Well, no, I mean, I've been tightly wound because of something else too," he lowered his voice, feeling immensely uncomfortable talking about this, but needing to get it out there, "alright, I'm just gonna take a bold approach with this one. I haven't had sex in like, two months, and it's been making me a little crazy lately."

"Two months is a long time for you two," Sweets observed, causing Booth to groan when he heard the news he was already aware of, "remember when you were supposed to go three weeks without sex? You couldn't even last three days."

"Yes, Sweets, I'm well aware."

"Well then why the sudden hesitation to be intimate?"

"Alright, don't say it like that," Booth warned, "there's no hesitation, at all. We both want to. We both _really_ want to, especially with Bones and her pregnancy hormones and all that. It's not a matter of losing the desire, we can't have sex. And I'm about to lose my mind here."

"Why can't you have sex?" Sweets was completely lost by this point.

"I don't know, something about premature labor, yada, yada," he brushed the question off quickly, "long story short, apparently it's 'dangerous'. And neither of us wants to risk anything."

"Is Doctor Brennan at risk for premature labor?" Sweets asked.

"No, the doctor said everything is going well. Perfect actually."

"Then I don't see any reason why intimacy would be dangerous," Sweets shrugged.

"Well, I'm just going by what Angela told Bones," Booth was growing frustrated with the whole situation now, not knowing what was okay and what wasn't, "I mean, Rebecca and I weren't together in the later terms of her pregnancy, so I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

"I think Angela may have given you guys some false information, probably not to be malicious. She may have just been mistaken."

"So, we've been going without sex for no reason?"

"Well," Sweets paused, looking for a better way to word it, "yeah. Kind of."

Booth let out a long sigh.

"Well, at least now we'll both have so much pent up sexual energy that it'll be really good tonight," he shrugged.

"Booth, I'd suggest discussing this with Brennan's doctor first," Sweets advised, "just to make sure. And, you have to be careful. When a woman is pregnant, her body becomes-"

"Alright, Sweets, that's all well and good, but I think I can take it from here," Booth assured him.

"I just think you should know that you might have to be gentler than you usually are because-"

"Hey, I'm gentle," he told him defensively, "what do you think I'm some sort of animal?"

"No, I just-"

"I have work to do, so if you don't mind leaving, that'd be great, alright, Sweets? Thanks for hearing me out though."

Instead of responding, Sweets just nodded, knowing there was no use in trying to argue with the stubborn FBI agent. Saying a quick 'you're welcome', he stood up and left his friend's office, closing the door behind him.

* * *

><p>"So there I am, practically gagging as she's telling me the stories, and she just kept going on and on. So I made up some lame excuse and got out of there," Ricky laughed, as he finished his story, "worst date of my life. I mean, I work with death. I see dead bodies all the time. If you can make me gag, it's a problem. Remind me never to become a doctor."<p>

"If you ever consider joining the medical field, I will remind you of those gruesome stories, even though I'm sure I've probably seen worse," Brennan vowed, as her laughter died down, "so what about now? Are you seeing anyone?"

"I've been playing the field," Ricky shrugged, "I was in a long term relationship with this woman Alicia a couple years ago, and even after we broke up we'd still get together sometimes, but I'm pretty sure it's over now. We're both trying to move on."

"Booth tells me it's hard to move on when you have such strong feelings for someone," Brennan informed him, "I've been with many different men, but I never had my metaphorical heart broken, so I can't really weigh in on the subject."

"Well I guess it's the fact that you're trying that matters," he laughed weakly, "thanks, Bren. It means a lot."

"If it's any consolation, I know plenty of people who enjoy sleeping around," she shrugged nonchalantly, "some people don't like committed relationships."

"No, don't get me wrong, I want a committed relationship," he assured her, "I just, always seem to fall for the wrong people."

"Aw, Ricky," she laughed lightly.

"What? I'm being serious. I feel like women always want either who they can't have, or jerks. And I don't think I'm a jerk, so unless I become unobtainable to someone, I guess no woman will ever want me."

Brennan laughed.

"Now you're just being melodramatic," she saw him smile, knowing that he was only exaggerating as a half joke, "you're kind, and you have pleasing symmetry. You'll find someone. Sometimes it just takes time. I didn't think I would ever find anyone either."

"But now you have Booth."

"Yeah, now I have Booth," she smiled without thinking about it, "I guess sometimes we get lucky."

Ricky laughed, pulling her out of her own thoughts.

"And here I thought Doctor Temperance Brennan wasn't sentimental," he smiled.

Brennan stole a fry off the side of her partner's plate, popping it into her mouth.

"That came out wrong," she told him, "I don't believe in luck."

"You're the one that said it, not me."

"Well, I blame the hormones," she brushed it off, using the excuse she used for nearly everything lately, "they're altering my way of thinking."

"Yeah, yeah," Ricky laughed, "don't worry, Bren. I won't tell anyone that you were irrational for a few seconds. I know it would ruin your reputation."

Brennan rolled her eyes as she continued to eat, not bothering to respond to him. But, in a way, she was glad he promised not to tell anyone, since that meant there would be no way Booth would find out. She knew that if her husband knew she blurted something out about luck, she would never hear the end of it. It would just give him one more thing to brag about. One more thing that he 'made her believe in'.


	4. What Is Second Base?

**A/N: Very short author's note, because I'm exhausted. I blame you guys. A few of you asked if I could go three days in a row, and I can never deny a challenge. xD Anyway, here's a break from the Ricky drama for some B&B fluff =]**

Chapter Four:

"What Is Second Base?"

Booth glanced impatiently at his watch as he tapped his fingers against the table, rolling his eyes when he saw the time.

"Waiting for something, big guy?" Sid asked, seeing his friend glance at his watch once again, "you haven't stopped looking at that thing since you got here."

"Yeah, I'm waiting for Bones," he said, the irritation audible in his voice, "she was supposed to be here an hour ago."

"I'm sure she's just hard at work," Sid shrugged.

"Yeah, sure."

About fifteen minutes after the conversation, Brennan entered Wong Fu's frantically, shoving her phone into her purse before she sat down in the booth with her husband, sighing deeply as she relaxed into her place.

"I'm so sorry, Booth," she cupped his cheek and kissed him softly, "I was laying on the couch in my office and I fell asleep. I asked Angela to wake me up if that happened but she must have forgotten and then I woke up at-"

"Shh..." Booth hushed her, placing a finger over her lips, "it's okay. Relax."

Brennan smiled and took his hand, pulling it away from her face and lacing their fingers together as Sid placed their food in front of them. She remembered long ago, before they were anything, she had looked at a couple sitting in one of the booths at Wong Fu's, imagining what it would be like if that were she and Booth. And now it was. It was she and Booth sitting in the booth holding hands as they waited for their dinner. Sometimes it still felt a little surreal when she thought back on the times that they were just friends. It seemed almost as if she couldn't remember a time when she wasn't with her husband.

"You're making the thinking face," Booth's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, as he unlaced their fingers and began to eat.

"I'm just thinking about before we were in a relationship," she told him, taking a bite of her rice as she glanced over at him.

"How come?"

"No reason," she lied, "it just, popped into my mind."

"Alrightie then," he laughed lightly, sensing that she was lying, but not making an issue of it, since it wasn't a big deal at all. He thought long and hard before he spoke his next words, dreading starting an argument the way it had this morning. "Are you, ready to talk about what you dreamed about last night?"

He immediately wished he could rewind and stop himself from saying that when she rolled her eyes to the ceiling, taking a small bite of her food.

"You're very tenacious," she told him.

"So I've heard."

"I just don't see why you're so worried about it. It was a dream, just a stupid, meaningless dream. My dreams are simply the thoughts in my subconscious mind, which I cannot control by the way. Meaning, what ever it was, I didn't dream about on my own accord."

"I just don't want you to be afraid of me, Bones, even in your subconscious mind," he told her, honestly, looking into her eyes to make sure she knew he was serious, "I just...want to know what you're afraid of. I want to help."

"Booth, even though I do not want to talk about the whole thing, especially here and now, I can assure you that you weren't doing anything wrong."

"But you were saying-"

"It doesn't matter what I was saying. You did absolutely nothing, I promise."

"Well as long as you promise," he laughed lightly, seeing her smile as well, "because we all know Temperance Brennan doesn't promise unless she means it."

Brennan took his hand again.

"No, I do not," she confirmed.

Booth took a bite of his food before speaking again, completely changing the subject, bringing it up as if it were no big deal.

"I've been thinking, maybe you should kind of...tone it down. With work."

A look of confusion washed over Brennan's face as she looked at him.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Nothing bad, I just think work might be a little too stressful for you, you know, this late in the pregnancy and all," he tried.

"You think I can't take care of myself?"

"No, no, it's not that, I just feel like it would be in your best interest not to do field work right now. Playing with your bones, sure, but being out in the field can be stressful, and if you stress too much you can go into labor."

Brennan couldn't help but to feel insulted, probably because of the hormones, she presumed. Even though he was not saying anything that should have been insulting, she felt as if he was being condescending. Like he was acting as if she didn't know how to take care of herself and the child she was carrying.

"Are you honestly concerned about premature labor, or is this about you not wanting me to work with Ricky?" She asked.

"It's about the health of you and Christian, that's all," he assured her, but grew slightly frustrated when she brought up Ricky, "why do you have to turn it into something about Ricky? How many times do I have to tell you that the Ricky thing doesn't bother me?"

"I feel like you're being dishonest," she murmured, quickly clarifying, "not about the fieldwork and the baby, but about my relationship with Ricky not bothering you. You seem bothered by it."

"I'm not," he half lied, "it doesn't bother me in the least."

"You're lying."

"Bones, it really has nothing to do with you. I know you're not doing it on purpose," he promised, before he informed her of his fears, not wanting her to think that he was mad at her, "I just feel like the majority of your time goes to him."

"Well we work together, Booth. The majority of my time went to you when we were working together," she reminded him, with a shrug.

"Yeah, but I mean," he paused, feeling foolish now, "I just don't want us to grow apart, that's all. I feel like we barely see each other anymore."

"Well you were out of town for a while," she reminded him.

"I know, but before that too."

Brennan pushed her hair over one shoulder, watching him with curious eyes.

"Do you doubt that I'm still in love with you?" She asked.

"No! No, Bones, not at all. I just miss spending time with you," he promised.

"We're spending time together now," she reminded him, with a small smile, nudging him gently with her elbow, "come on, Booth. Enjoy the time we have while we have it instead of stressing over the time we don't have."

Temperance Brennan, the voice of reason.

"You're right," he agreed, placing his hand on her forearm, "you're right. We should just, spend this time together and not think or talk about work, or anything that goes along with work. Work is strictly off limits from now on."

Brennan smiled and kissed his cheek affectionately.

"Thank you for being so understanding," she thanked him softly, knowing that they just decided work was off limits, but wanting to get this out there, "I know it's probably hard, having me spending so much time with Ricky, but you're being very patient and understanding, and I am grateful, Booth, I really am."

Booth turned his head when she went to kiss his cheek again, making it so she hit his lips instead, pecking him softly.

"You're welcome, I guess," he laughed lightly, "but, didn't we say no more talking about work like, thirty seconds ago?"

Brennan rolled her eyes, a smile on her face.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew that I was grateful."

"I do know," he assured her, kissing her softly again, letting their lips mingle for a few seconds that time before he pulled away again, causing her to jump when he spoke frantically, "oh! Bones! Sweets told me something interesting today."

"What?" Her eyes looked slightly alarmed.

"Apparently Angela doesn't know what she's talking about, because Sweets gave me the heads up that we can make love and nothing bad will happen," he filled her in, with a small, semi-seductive smile, feeling fairly confident that he would be getting the release he had been needing tonight, "so I did my googling, and it turns out the kid is right. Who knew?"

"Oh, good," her smile and tone of voice seemed more cheerful than lusty and passionate, "now we know incase the mood ever strikes.

_Incase the mood ever strikes_. Booth was sure he almost had a heart-attack right then and there. Was she seriously not in the mood, after two months?

"I...I kind of thought the mood would strike tonight, if you know what I mean," he stuttered, desperately trying not to let her know how disappointed he was.

Brennan shrugged, making a small 'eh' noise when she did.

"I'm not much in the mood for sex."

Booth looked at her, completely lost by this point.

"But what about the wanting to touch my stomach with your mouth and wanting me to take you on the desk?" He asked.

"That was this afternoon. I lost the desire," she felt bad when she saw the look of disappointment on his face, knowing he was trying his absolute hardest not to let it show, "I'm sorry, it's just, my back really hurts, and my feel are swollen, and I'm very tired."

"I understand," he laughed lightly, even though he knew now he was going to need a very long, cold shower to keep himself from attempting to have his way with her when they got home, respecting the fact that she was uncomfortable and not in the mood, "you don't have to apologize for being pregnant. We can just cuddle, and kiss, maybe round second base if you're feeling up to it, but we don't have to have sex tonight if you don't want to."

Brennan frowned.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again, "I know you want to."

"I'm a big boy, Temperance. I can wait."

Brennan smiled gratefully, leaning her shoulder against his as she ate.

"What is second base?" She asked, "I know you've explained this before, but I have a hard time remembering which base is which."

Booth laughed, his arm finding it's way around her waist the best it could in the booth.

"You know, second base," he shrugged casually, "copping a feel," she felt his hand slide down her side to the bottom of her shirt, "a little bit of tongue kissing leading to a bit of the 'hand under the shirt action'."

"Booth!" She gasped, swatting his hand away when it slipped up her shirt.

"Oh, come on, I've done much more than that before," he had to laugh at how she all of the sudden became the prude in their relationship.

"In the privacy of our own home, not in the middle of Wong Fu's," she reminded him, "if Sid saw that he would probably not appreciate it."

"I don't think he would care at all. And even if he did, I'm really not too concerned about what Sid thinks at the moment."

"Because you want to have sex with me."

Booth groaned, looking to the ceiling.

"Thank you for just screaming that out in the middle of a restaurant."

Brennan rolled her eyes.

"Says the man that was just putting his hand up my shirt twenty seconds ago."

Cutting off the conversation there, Booth backtracked a little bit, avoiding the bickering at all costs. Only Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth could bicker about intimacy.

"So what do you say?"

"About what?"

"About a little necking and rounding second base."

Brennan looked down at her mostly empty plate, then over at Booth's which also had a minimal amount of food left on it. She looked back up, glancing around for Sid before she looked back at Booth, a hint of eagerness in her eyes.

"How fast do you think we can get this check?" She asked.

Booth smiled and leaned in to place a soft kiss against her neck, not getting too carried away, since they were, in fact, in public.

"Not nearly fast enough," he responded, his voice a husky whisper in her ear.

* * *

><p>"Mmm, oh, Booth," Brennan murmured, when his lips left hers to move to her neck, kissing, nipping, licking, all very softly, just enough to make her whisper his name in a breathy tone, "I missed this."<p>

As soon as they walked through the front door that night, their lips were on one another's, as they lead each other blindly to their bedroom. Now they were laying on the bed, side by side, both facing one another as they 'necked', as Booth would call it. His shirt was unbuttoned and parted, and hers had been forgotten and tossed to the floor, leaving her in only the white camisole, which was now bunched up from Booth's hands feeling around under it. Christian occasionally kicked, as if to remind Booth of his presence, warning him not to be too rough with his mother. In a way, it was making him feel a little dirty, as if they were doing this in front of the baby, but he was too turned on at the moment to care.

"Remind me why we haven't kissed like this in months," Booth mumbled against her skin, moving to her jawbone.

"Because we didn't want to get one another too aroused when we thought sex wasn't an option," she reminded him quietly, the hand that wasn't feeling his chest and abdomen moving to tangle in his hair.

When he felt her hand in his hair, he pressed his lips back to hers, neither of them hesitating to part their lips and let their tongues meet wetly. Their kiss was sloppy, the kind of kiss that, if they were out in a public place, people would probably feel uncomfortable watching. Their tongues explored the other's mouth, occasionally touching their lips, leaving a little wet mark until it got kissed away. One of Booth's hands had migrated from under her shirt to gently fist some of her hair, as her leg hitched onto his hip. And then, just like that, Brennan was pulling away.

Booth was too turned on to even notice, his lips parted in concentration as his eyes remained closed, leaning forward subconsciously to keep their lips touching for as long as possible. When he realized that her lips were not coming back to his, or to any other part of his body, for that matter, his eyes fluttered open, looking lusty and glazed over.

"You stopped," he observed, relieved when he saw that she wore the same aroused, lusty expression on her face.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Care to explain why? It seemed like you were getting into it."

"Exactly why I stopped," she shrugged, seeing him groan, his shoulders slumping disappointedly, "aw, come on, Booth, we've been at this for almost two hours, and it's almost midnight. We both have work tomorrow and Christian and I need our rest."

Booth couldn't help but smile, kissing her cheek with kiss-swollen lips.

"You know I can't argue once you bring Chris into it," he accused, "that's why you always use the whole 'Christian and I need our rest' thing when you want to go to sleep."

"It works," she shrugged, leaning in to nuzzle the crook of his neck softly, "you know, anthropologically speaking, it's natural for you to feel protective of your young."

"Please don't call Christian 'my young'. We aren't a wolf pack, Bones."

"I'm just saying, alpha males will protect their young at all costs. And even though Christian isn't born yet, it is still normal for you to feel protective of him and possessive of me. I'm carrying your child, which is your claim on me. It's kind of like how dogs will urinate on something to assert that it is their territory."

"Bones, please just, stop there," he winced at the comparison, not wanting to compare his wife carrying his child to a dog peeing on a street sign, "you aren't my 'territory' you are my wife. And you're having the baby we made out of love. Let's not twist it into some anthropological crap, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed, seeing that he didn't want to discuss this any further, as she reached over to turn off the lamp.

Booth was surprised that she agreed so easily, but wasn't going to say anything. He just laid down with her, closing his eyes as she cuddled into his chest, neither of them caring that they were still half dressed in their work clothes.

"Goodnight, Booth," she spoke, after a few minutes of silence.

"Night, Bones," he kissed the top of her head, "sweet dreams."


	5. Baby, That's My Gun

**A/N: Hello everyone. =] The finale put me in such a good mood last night, and honestly, words can't even express how much I loved it. xD There's a semi-important conversation between Ricky and Angela in this chapter, but other than that, it's basically more fluff. Just getting you all nice and prepared for the angst (which probably still won't come for a while). And if you could excuse any errors I missed while I was proofreading, I would appreciate it. I'm actually really sick right now. =[**

Chapter Five:

"Baby, That's My Gun"

"The guy was cut into pieces too," Booth explained his current work to his wife as he rubbed her shoulders, standing behind her from where she sat in the chair in her office, "his old business partner hacked him up with a steak knife. You know, he claimed that it was a 'heat of the moment' thing, but chopping someone up seems pretty deliberate."

"I agree," Brennan arched her back in comfort under her husband's strong hands, "where did you say the body was found again?"

"In garbage bags in a dumpster outside a highschool in Virginia," he told her, kissing the top of her head softly, simply because he felt like it.

"Well then maybe the hacking was simply to make disposing of the body easier," she shrugged, feeling like having a healthy debate with her former partner, "perhaps he killed his former business partner in a fit of rage, and then realized what he did and decided cutting up the body would be the easiest way to get rid of it."

"Maybe," Booth shrugged, "or maybe he's just lying."

"That is also possible."

"You know, call me negative, but when I have to choose between either assuming someone is lying, or giving them the benefit of the doubt, in this line of work, I usually go with the lying as my first instinct. Murderers have a tendency to do that."

"Don't I know it," she laughed lightly, sighing and stretching out her back when his hands left her shoulders, leaving her feeling a little less sore and a lot more refreshed, "thank you, Booth."

"No problem," he kissed her head again, "that's what I'm here for."

Brennan stood up from her chair so they were closer to eye level, reaching up to run her fingers over his chest, fixing the collar of his shirt when he did.

"Why aren't you wearing a tie?" She asked, curiously.

"Because I spilled coffee on it this morning," Brennan laughed at how much of a child he was sometimes after he spoke, "why are you worried about my ensemble today?"

"I'm not," she laughed, "I was just curious."

"Okay then."

Booth laughed awkwardly when she touched his collarbone, slipping her finger under the fabric, since it wasn't being held together by a tie.

"I think I like it better when you don't wear a tie," she observed.

"Good to know."

Brennan smiled, her eyes traveling up to his.

"Wanna make out on my couch?" She asked, casually.

"Yes," he responded, his answer just as casual as her question.

Brennan pulled him close by his jacket lapels and pressed her mouth to his, cupping the side of his face as they kissed, feeling her way around her office and to her couch. Booth chuckled against her lips when she pushed him down by the shoulders onto her couch cushions.

"Bones," he laughed as she straddled his waist, pushing her hair suggestively over one shoulder, "feeling a little frisky today?"

"A little," she admitted, grabbing the throw blanket off the back of her couch and draping it over her shoulders, pulling him back up by the shirt to cocoon them both in it.

Booth was about to say something else but was cut off when she kissed him again, his hands moving to take their place under her shirt. He tensed when she moaned softly against his mouth, arching her back and taking one of his hands to move it to her the small of her back.

"Oh, Bones," he sighed when her lips moved to his neck, "I love it when you get like this."

Brennan smiled and nodded in agreement, comforted by the feel of his hands caressing her skin.

"Keep doing that," her voice was a breathy whisper.

"Feels nice?" He asked, receiving a nod in response as her breath touched his neck, "it feels nice when you kiss my neck too."

"I love you," she murmured against his skin.

"Baby, I love you too," he promised.

Brennan's mouth moved to nibble on his earlobe.

"I want to have sex," she breathed into his ear.

"Me too," he groaned, pushing gently on her lower back to urge her as close as she was going to get with her pregnant belly in the way.

"Let's do it," she cupped his face between her hands, stopping her kisses to look him in the eyes, "make love to me."

"Mmm," he groaned when she left small kisses on his face, "tonight."

"I want you now," her fingers ran gingerly down his abdomen as she kissed his ear again.

"I...I..." he stuttered, unable to manage words at the moment, as she started to tug some buttons on his shirt open, kissing the skin of his chest when it was revealed.

"You want me now too," she told him, rather than asked.

"I do, but there's so many people here...and you know people just like to," he paused for a short period of time, his next words muffled by her lips, "barge in here unannounced."

Brennan sighed and pulled away, resting her forehead against his.

"Fine, tonight," she agreed reluctantly, "but can we continue to make out?"

"Yeah," Booth laughed, "we can."

* * *

><p>"Hello, Angela" Ricky said cheerfully, standing near the forensic platform, unable to get on, since he didn't have an ID card, "how are you today?"<p>

Angela didn't respond, simply continued on her facial reconstruction.

"Angela?" He asked, realizing that she wasn't going to respond after only a few seconds, "hey, Angela, I've got some files for Bren. Do you know where she is?"

"Yes, she is in her office," Angela answered, her tone sharp and cold, "with her husband. You know, the man who she exchanged vows with and promised to spend her life with. The one who's child she is currently carrying."

Ricky wasn't entirely sure why she was emphasizing the fact that Booth was Brennan's husband, but didn't say anything about it, knowing that she would probably just snap at him anyway.

"If you have anything you need to give to her, I'd be glad to take it for you," he offered.

This was one of the reasons that Angela was so skeptical of him. Even when she acted so coldly, he was always extremely kind, which never failed to rub her the wrong way. It was as if he was trying way too hard to win them over, and she knew for a fact that it was because he wanted to sleep with Brennan. There was no other reason for it.

"No, I'm capable of taking my own things over to Brennan," she assured him.

"Oh, no, I know, I was just offering because I'm going there anyway," he paused, feeling awkward now that she was just completely ignoring him, "so, um, do you think I'll be able to get an ID card one of these days? Because, I always have to wait for Bren before I can get up here, and, it's not a huge deal, I just think it would be more convenient if I had one."

"Only people who work here get ID cards," she lied, since she knew very well that, that was not true, "sorry, nothing I can do."

"Doesn't Booth have an ID card?" He asked.

Angela huffed and placed her sketch on the autopsy table, leaving the forensic platform to go talk to Ricky seriously, face to face. She looked at him seriously, wanting to make herself clear so he would stop with the questions.

"Ricky, here's the thing," she started, "Booth wasn't just some FBI agent that worked with us. All of us here were, and still are, like a little family, and Booth is part of that family, not just because he's married to Brennan, but because we all love him here. That is why Booth has an ID card. Even though you work with Brennan now, and maybe she likes you and all that good stuff, you'll never replace Booth here."

"Oh, I'm not trying to replace Booth," he assured her, "I'm just trying to get along with everyone, because Bren and I are getting close, and we really like working together, and I'm kind of hoping that our partnership will be as successful as she and Booth's."

"So you're hoping to be her next Booth?" Angela narrowed her eyes at him.

"Minus the sex," he laughed lightly.

Angela simply rolled her eyes and shook her head, ready to go back up to the forensic platform to continue her work before Ricky's voice stopped her.

"Listen, Angela, I'm really not sure what your problem is with me, but I've been nothing but nice to you, yet you continue to act like I'm some sort of horrible person," he observed.

"I don't think you're a horrible person, Ricky, but I think your motives are bad. I don't think you're nice to me just for the hell of it. I think you're trying to get something. Something that you can't have."

Ricky silently agreed with her. He did want something he couldn't have. And it killed him. Not only was the person he wanted unobtainable, but he knew for a fact that she didn't want him back. He spoke to Brennan about how women always wanted who they couldn't have, but now he was the one wanting someone, when he knew it would never happen.

"We all want things we can't have," he reminded her, "haven't you ever?"

"Sure I have, but not to that extent," she was silently glad that they got this out in the open, assuming that he was speaking about Brennan, since there was no one else they would be speaking about, "I don't care if you want, but don't try to satisfy it."

"I wasn't planning on it," he assured her, "because I know it would never happen. This woman I want, she's happy the way she is. I don't want to ruin that."

Angela was actually felt a bit of admiration that he was so in control of his emotions, and was so understanding of his situation, knowing where he stood. But she would never tell him that, nor like him, for that matter. He still wanted her best friend, who was married.

"You're right, it would never happen," she agreed, turning her back to him before going back onto the forensic platform, resuming her facial reconstruction.

Ricky hoped that sharing that bit of information with her would maybe get her to approve of him just a little more, since he was willing to be open about something so personal, but figured that it wouldn't. He was fairly confident that Angela would never like him.

As he thought about his conversation with his partner's co-worker, he made his way to her office, knocking a quick knock, not waiting for a response before he pulled the door open.

"Hey, Bren, Cullen gave us a new case to-" he stopped in his track when he found her on the couch with her husband, disconnecting their lips very calmly as she turned herself slightly to look at him, not seeing anything wrong with the fact that he had just walked in on the two of them groping each other, "um, am I interrupting something? Because I can come back later."

"Kind of," Booth told him, subtly slipping his hands out from under the fabric of her shirt.

Brennan pushed on her husband's shoulder playfully, fastening the top few buttons of her shirt back up, too oblivious to care that her partner was getting a nice view of her chest, figuring that he wasn't looking there anyway.

"Booth's just kidding, you're not interrupting," she assured him, her fingers moving to the few unfastened buttons on his shirt now to button them back up, "we were just kissing, now's fine."

"Okay," Ricky laughed awkwardly, seeing that she wasn't planning on getting out of her lover's lap for the duration of their talk. He tried his best to focus on what he was talking about, even though he knew she was barely paying any mind to him, since she was too busy caressing her husband's face and kissing him every so often. "One of the field agents got suspended so we get to take over this case. Thirty seven year old man and his twenty two year old mistress found dead in her apartment. His wife is the prime suspect right now. I'm sorry I've gotta snag you away from Booth here, but we have to go question her in a little while."

Brennan was barely paying attention, whispering an occasionally naughty comment into Booth's ear, watching with an amused expression when he would tense and blush involuntarily.

"Baby, that's my gun," he whispered hoarsely in response to her last suggestive comment.

"How disappointing," she kissed his cheek and laughed when she could feel his skin heat up.

"Bren?" She had almost completely forgotten that Ricky was in there until he spoke again, "are you okay to come? Or will you go into labor?"

Brennan finally stood up off of Booth's lap, shrugging the throw blanket off her shoulders, and smoothing her shirt down, chuckling at her partner's sarcastic question.

"No, I'm not going to go into labor," she rolled her eyes, "go outside, Ricky. I'll meet you out there in a minute," after he left her office with a nod, she took Booth's hand to pull him off of her couch, turning him around so she could peck his lips softly, "I've gotta go, but I'll see you later," she bit her bottom lip suggestively, causing her partner to smile, as if they were sharing their own private joke.

"I'll be there," he assured her, "go do what you've gotta do. But tonight, you're mine."

"I'm looking forward to being yours," she filled him in, kissing him again, feeling unable to get enough of his lips against hers that day, "yours and only yours."

"You're always mine," he reminded her, "but tonight I'm just reminding you."

"You're right, I'm always yours," she pinched his cheek playfully, feeling him pull away with a small wince. She laughed and kissed him one last time, before she left, speaking to him over her shoulder as she headed towards the door of her office, "and I look forward to having sex with my husband tonight."

* * *

><p>"Bones? Are you sure you're okay?" Booth turned over onto his side to look at his wife, who was laying on her back, her hair tangled and sprawled messily across her pillow, still panting and struggling for her breath, "Bones?"<p>

"I'm fine," she promised through heavy breaths, pushing the hair that was sticking to her forehead away from her eyes, before she turned her head to look at him, "that was incredible, Booth. We should go without more often."

"No, that's quite alright," Booth laughed lightly, taking her hand and pressing their palms together, "I'm sure it can be just as incredible without the two month period of abstinence."

"I guess I agree," she laughed lightly, smiling when his hand captured hers and he leaned down to kiss the bridge of her nose, "it's always incredible with us."

"Yes it is," he agreed, pulling her close, so she could rest her head against the crook of his neck, "mmm, Bones," he inhaled her scent, kissing the top of her head, "you are so amazing."

"In bed?" She asked.

"In general," he smiled charmingly, using his free hand to trace over her spine.

"Don't get all soft and mushy, on me, Booth."

"So I'm soft and mushy because I love my wife?"

"No, you're soft and mushy because that's just how you're acting."

Booth laughed and moved his hand from her back to cup her cheek, bringing her lips to his in a slow, gentle kiss, her arms wrapping around his shoulders when he did. She sighed against his lips after a couple minutes, breaking the contact of their mouths.

"I don't want to go back to work tomorrow," she complained, tilting her head back to stretch out her neck when she felt him move his lips down after their kiss broke.

"Then don't go back," he suggested, pausing his kisses so he could look at her seriously, "you're almost due, Bones. It's okay to stay home."

"You just want me to stop working," she poked his side, feeling him jerk in response.

"You're right, but I know I can't force you to do anything," he saw her smile as he kissed her again, "I just want the baby to be safe and healthy, that's all," he tickled her belly gently, hearing an extremely rare Temperance Brennan giggle fall from her lips, "ah, there it is. I love it when you do that," he tickled her gently again, "do it again."

"No, stop," she laughed, slapping his hand away.

Booth did as she asked and stopped tickling her, feeling her head rest back against his chest when he did. They were quiet for a few minutes, simply listening to the cars pass outside as his fingers ran through her hair.

"I love you," he whispered, his voice soft and velvety.

"I love you too," she whispered back, cuddling closer to him as she closed her eyes and proceeded to drift off into much needed sleep.

* * *

><p>Booth was lying awake, having woken up in the middle of the night, unable to fall back asleep. He watched his wife as she shifted in her deep sleep, occasionally making a small noise when she'd turn over onto her side or back. He moved his hand to stroke her bare shoulder gently as she made another small noise and turned away from him, whimpering the last thing he wanted to hear coming from her at the moment.<p>

"No, no, Booth."

_Oh, God _he thought to himself, _not again._


	6. Christian is Your Responsibility

**A/N: Two days, two chapters. =] I mean, that's mostly because I'm sick, so it's not really a 'yay' moment, but I guess it's 'yay' for you guys. xD Anyway, there's kind of a lot going on in this chapter, so just bear with me.**

Chapter Six:

"Christian is Your Responsibility"

"Stop," Brennan begged in her sleep, "please, don't hurt him. Please."

Booth closed his eyes in frustration, unsure if he was frustrated with himself or her. Who was she dreaming about him hurting? Why was she dreaming about him hurting anyone in the first place? They'd talked about things like this before, and she promised that she never thought he would physically harm anyone he didn't have to.

"Bones, come on, you're okay," he sighed, tracing his fingers over her back, kissing her shoulder softly, "shh, I'm right here, it's okay."

He wasn't sure why he thought telling her he was there was going to help, when he was the one she was afraid of, but it was just a natural response. He would try anything to make her stop crying and whimpering, the small noises breaking his heart.

"Baby, none of this is real. Please, wake up," he pleaded with her, seeing her eyes finally shoot open as she glanced frantically around the bedroom, finally looking to Booth, her chest heaving with her uneven breaths. When a small sound left her lips, he quickly silenced her, pressing a finger to her them, "sh, sh, it's over. You were dreaming. Okay? It's over."

Brennan nodded and pulled herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around him and closing her eyes when he held her close. Booth could feel her trembling in his arms as he held her close, whispering words of affection into her ear as he stroked her back.

"I love you," she whispered in a meek voice, sniffing when he wiped her tears for her.

"Bones, I love you too," he tilted her head up to kiss her softly.

Brennan sighed and separated their lips, pressing her cheek against his as she cried.

"Why are you crying?" He whispered, his hand skimming over her back, causing goose bumps to cover her skin.

"Because it was awful," she sighed, resting her head back against his shoulder, feeling comforted by his strong arms holding her tightly, "I...I don't know why I keep dreaming about it. I try not to."

Booth nodded understandingly, not wanting to push her to talk about it at that moment. Brennan sniffed and closed her eyes, tightening her grip around his shoulders.

"He always has you, and Christian, and he tells me to choose," her voice was low, barely audible as she spoke.

"Who?" Booth asked softly.

"I don't know," she cried, burying her head into his chest, "that's the worst part. He's nobody. But he says I can only save one of you, and I can never choose. And then you always tell him to kill you, to spare Christian, but I beg him not to. I beg him to spare you both. But you keep talking and insisting, and I just need you to be quiet, for five seconds, so I can try to negotiate with him, but you just, don't stop. I'm trying to talk him down but you're just making him angry, and then I hear a gun shot."

"He kills me?"

Brennan shook her head.

"I just hear you yell, and the baby cry, and then I wake up. I never know what happens."

"Bones-"

"You're not doing anything wrong, Booth. I'm not telling you to stop, I'm telling _him_ to stop. I even beg him, but nothing ever works," she looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with tears, "that's why I didn't feel it was important for you to know. You weren't doing anything."

Booth looked at her seriously their eyes meeting in an intense gaze.

"I thought you were dreaming that I was hurting someone," he admitted, seeing the look of confusion wash over her face, "I didn't know exactly what was going on. You just kept saying 'Booth', 'no', and 'stop'. And then tonight you said 'don't hurt him'."

Brennan shook her head and leaned up to kiss him softly again.

"I was telling him not to hurt you," she promised him, stroking the line of his jaw softly, "Booth, I would never dream that you were hurting someone."

"Well you can't really help what you dream about," he reminded her.

"Booth, in order to dream about something it has to be in your subconscious mind. I can't imagine that you hurting someone would be something I would dream about."

Booth half smiled and tightened his grip around her, hugging her tightly to his chest.

"That makes me feel a lot better," he told her honestly, relieved that they got this all out of the way and he now understood what she was having reoccurring nightmares about, "now tell me what I can do to make you feel better."

"Nothing," she shook her head, "it's fine, Booth. There's nothing you can do."

"There has to be something."

Brennan shook her head.

"Just...keep doing what you're doing," she told him quietly, feeling just slightly embarrassed, "just...hold me. Okay?"

"Okay," he let go of her for only a few seconds to turn over onto his side, wrapping his arms back around her and pulling her close once again so they were facing each other, "whatever you need, Temperance."

Brennan rested her forehead against his, her soft breath touching his lips. Her eyes closed as she tried to fall back asleep, gasping when she felt his lips against hers. There were no objections though, as her hand moved to cup the side of his face, her lips parting before he could even urge them apart. Their tongues touched, and she sighed into his mouth, hitching her leg up onto his waist before breaking the kiss to nuzzle his neck softly.

"Make love to me," she whispered.

Booth put a finger under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him.

"You sure?" He asked, "I know you're pregnant, and that makes your body a little sensitive, so I'm just not sure if twice will be pushing it."

Brennan shook her head.

"It's fine," she assured him, "I'm fine," she kissed him softly again, "now make love to me again."

* * *

><p>"Mm," Brennan mumbled when she woke up to the feeling of Booth's fingers running through her hair.<p>

She could tell he had been up for a while, smelling like a combination of soap, aftershave, and coffee. When he kissed her forehead, she purred subconsciously.

"Booth," she murmured, "what time is it?"

"Eight thirty," he moved to kiss her cheek.

She popped up at the sound of the words, pulling the covers up over her chest as she sat up straight.

"Why did you let me sleep?" She asked, frantically, wrapping herself in a sheet before getting out of bed, digging through the dresser drawers to find something to wear.

"You needed your rest," he told her, surprised when she jumped up as if the bed was on fire, "come on, Bones, don't you feel refreshed now that you got a few extra hours of sleep?"

"I am working on a murder, Booth, my rest isn't important," she scolded him, mumbling something inaudible under her breath as she started to get dressed, "now I can't even trust you to wake me up on time because you don't think I know how to take care of my own body?"

"Oh, come on, I never said that," he rolled his eyes.

"You can't just decide not to wake me up because of what you think I need," she continued her lecture as she finished getting dressed and grabbed a brush to run it quickly through her hair, tossing it up into a ponytail, "I have responsibilities."

"Yeah, like your baby," he reminded her, seeing her stop to look at him seriously. He lowered his voice when the feel in the room became tense, "Christian is your responsibility. You need to take a break from work."

"You can't tell me how to-"

"Bones, I tried to suggest it nicely last night, but now I'm not asking anymore. I'm telling you, you need to chill with work. You're almost eight months pregnant and you're still running around doing field work. It's not good for the baby. You should be at home resting, not interrogating suspects and going to crime scenes. Christian is your priority now. I know you're used to work being your highest responsibility, but it's not anymore, and you have to adjust. So call Ricky and tell him you can't go out into the field with him anymore, at least until after the baby is born."

Booth knew that this may have been the wrong approach, since now he knew she would want to go out into the field just to spite him, to prove that she didn't have to listen to him, but he wasn't getting through to her any other way. He felt as if this was his last resort.

"Why are you being like this?" Her soft voice caused him to feel guilty for being so harsh with her, "Is this because of Ricky? Is it because Angela thinks he wants to sleep with me?"

The mention of her partner only caused him to grow annoyed again.

"No, it's not about Ricky. It's about Christian. Our baby, incase you forgot who that was," he saw her horrified expression when he made the sharp comment, "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Bones, but our marriage doesn't revolve around Ricky."

"Incase I forgot who that was?" She wanted to make sure she heard him clearly, biting her lip to refrain from exploding on him, "You're a jack ass, Booth."

She turned to leave, only to feel her husband grab her arm gently.

"Bones, stop," his voice was softer, now that he realized he had hurt her feelings. He pulled her back to him, despite her efforts to wiggle her arm out of his grip, "you think I want to fight with you? I'll be honest, when I woke you up this morning, I was not expecting an argument."

"Well it's your fault that we are arguing," she refused to buy into his whole innocent 'I don't want to fight with you' speech, "you insulted me. You think I don't care about our baby, when I am confident that I've made it very clear that Christian means the world to me. I would die for our baby, Booth. Why don't you understand that?"

"I do," he promised her, "I'll admit, the 'incase you forgot who that was' comment was out of line, but _you_ have to admit that maybe running around chasing murderers is not the best thing for the baby so far into your pregnancy."

Brennan looked at him seriously. Normally when they stopped and discussed things like this, all was well within a few minutes, but she was not feeling so willing to forgive that day.

"Maybe you should mind your business," she said, her voice low.

"This is my baby too," his tone was warning.

"But I'm carrying him, so, in reality, I have the final say," she said harshly, "I'm going to work now, and I'm not going to take time off until I absolutely have to. So deal with it."

Not giving him a chance to respond, Brennan pulled her arm out of his grip before she left, slamming the front door behind her.

* * *

><p>"And then he said I didn't love Christian," a pregnant, hormonal Brennan sobbed onto her friend's shoulder, as Angela rubbed her back comfortingly, "and then...and then I said that Chris is more my baby than his, and he probably hates me now."<p>

"Aw, sweetie, he doesn't hate you," Angela assured her, having to smile just a little at how off the walls her emotions were, "but you shouldn't have said that. You know Rebecca doesn't let him see Parker as often as he wants. He's probably hurt."

"He said I didn't love my baby," she wiped her eyes.

"I think you both need to apologize to each other," Angela tried to be the voice of reason, "you were both wrong. I think the stress of having a baby on the way is just getting to you two. That along with the fact that you have a new partner-"

"Ange, this has nothing to do with Ricky," Brennan cut her off, her sadness replaced with irritation, "just ask Booth. Apparently I think our marriage revolves around Ricky, according to Booth, of course."

"Just take some time alone and try to talk to him later," the artist suggested, "I think you both just need space right now. You'll be fine in a couple hours."

Brennan let go of her friend and crossed her arms over her chest, glancing down to catch a glimpse of her wedding ring, the sight only causing her to feel upset again. Her eyes started to well up with tears again, and Angela looked at her, frowning sympathetically.

"Ange," she cried, resting her head back against her shoulder, "we were so close last night. I shared my nightmare with him, he held me close, and then we made love. The slow, gentle kind, not passionate and uninhibited like we had earlier in the night."

"Sweetie, I'm sure you'll be fine," Angela hugged her again, "he loves you."

"He hates me."

Angela laughed and gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"You're being sensitive again," she told her, "I'll tell you what. How about we go to get some lunch, and then when we get back you can call Booth and try to smooth things out?"

"Can we get ice cream instead?" Brennan asked, innocently.

Angela laughed and hugged her tightly.

"Sure," she laughed, "we can get ice cream."

* * *

><p>When they arrived back at the lab, Brennan went into her office, tossing her jacket onto the back of her couch with a small huff. She was annoyed to find out that she wasn't really needed for this case, since the body was fleshy, and that Cullen was more punting the case to Ricky than to both of them. She had just about had it with Cullen. In fact, she had just about had it with everyone. It was only when she went to work on her novel at her desk that she saw a yellow daffodil lying on top of a CD cover. She picked up the daffodil, inhaled the sweets scent, and popped the CD into her computer to listen to it.<p>

_Look into my eyes, you will see  
><em>_what you mean to me.  
><em>_Search your heart, search your soul  
><em>_and when you find me there, you'll search no more_

_Don't tell me, it's not worth trying for  
><em>_Can't tell me, it's not worth dying for.  
><em>_You know it's true  
><em>_Everything I do  
><em>_I do it for you._

Brennan couldn't help but to laugh lightly at the cheesy, yet romantic, gesture, switching over to the next song.

_There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea.  
><em>_You became the light on the dark side of me.  
><em>_Love remained a drug that's the high and not the pill  
><em>_But did you know, that when it snows  
><em>_my eyes become large and,  
><em>_the light that you shine can be seen._

_Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.  
><em>_Ooh, the more I get of you, stranger it feels, yeah.  
><em>_And now that your rose is in bloom, a light hits the gloom on the grey._

She smiled as one of her favorite songs played, and she switched the song again after the chorus. The third and last song on the short CD was the one that really made her heart beat a little faster. It was their song. The song that they danced to on the day they got married, at Hodgins and Angela's wedding reception.

_I can feel the magic floating in the air.  
><em>_Being with you gets me that way.  
><em>_I watch the sunlight dance across your face  
><em>_and I've never been this swept away._

_And all my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze  
><em>_when I'm lying wrapped up in your arms.  
><em>_The whole world just fades away  
><em>_the only thing I hear  
><em>_is the beating of your heart. _

_Cause I can feel you breathe,  
><em>_it's washing over me  
><em>_and suddenly I'm melting into you.  
><em>_There's nothing left to prove  
><em>_baby all we need is just to be.  
><em>_Caught up in the touch,  
><em>_slow and steady rush.  
><em>_Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be?  
><em>_I can feel you breathe.  
><em>_Just breathe. _

She actually finished that song before taking the disc out of her computer and putting it back into the case, making sure it didn't get lost or ruined as she placed the daffodil back on top. Laughing lightly, she spoke aloud, not to herself, but not to anyone in particular either.

"I love you too, Booth."


	7. The Only Woman I Want to Make Love To

**A/N: Okay, so I worked hard to get this one out tonight because I know I won't want to write tomorrow afternoon. I have an algebra test tomorrow, it kind of like a final exam, but not really, and if you fail, you have to take the course over again, so I'm kind of stressing about that. I don't want to be a girl who's in all honors classes but is taking 9th grade math. Anyway, enough about that. xD ****I realized, after a review I got asking what the last song on Brennan's CD was called, that I totally forgot to put the names of the songs. They were "Everything I Do (I Do For You)" by Bryan Adams, "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal, and "Breathe" by Faith Hill. **

**I got more questions. I'm trying to answer all of them, even if they don't pertain to the story, so just tell me if I missed you. =]**

**SouthunLady asked, why are Booth and Brennan not allowed to work together? Answer is, I'm not really an expert on FBI rules, but Brennan made it pretty clear in "The Parts in the Sum of the Whole" that she and Booth couldn't work together if they had a romantic relationship, so I'm just going by the show. xD**

**Also, just random little answer, daffodil101 asked if I'm really fifteen, and the answer is yes. I am very much fifteen. xD And, by the way, I agree with you on the dessert sharing. I would like to see some of that as well.**

Chapter Seven:

"The Only Woman I Want to Make Love To"

Brennan glanced uncomfortably at the cat rubbing against her legs, taking a sip of her water before setting it down on the coffee table.

"Aw, he likes you," Angela gushed, reaching over to pet the cat under it's chin.

Brennan crossed her legs once the furry animal turned it's attention to Angela, leaving her alone only when the artist started to pet it.

"I thought you didn't like cats?" She asked curiously, as Angela picked up the animal to set it on her lap.

"Well one of Hodgins' friends found Peanut in the laundry room of his apartment. He was starving and didn't have a home so Hodgins agreed to take him in," she shrugged, "I wasn't just going to let him die. I'll admit, I didn't really want him at first, but, what can I say? The little guy grew on me."

Brennan nodded, picking up her water to take another sip.

"You and Booth should get a cat," she suggested.

"Oh, no, Booth hates cats. He thinks they're some sort of satanic species," she had to laugh lightly, "and besides, Booth and I are going to have a baby in a month. I think we'll be busy enough without the added stress of having a domestic animal."

Angela laughed and pressed her palm against her friend's stomach.

"Wow," she sighed, "in one month you're going to have a baby. That is so crazy. I feel like such a short time ago, you were telling me you were pregnant."

"One month left," she looked down to where Angela's hand was resting on her stomach, waiting for the baby to kick, "to be honest, I'm starting to get nervous."

"How come?" Angela asked, smiling when she could feel the baby move.

"I'm going to be a mother, Angela. I'm not sure if I'm ready yet. Booth says I'll be a good mother, but," she paused, shrugging her shoulders, "I don't know. He was probably just trying to spare my feelings. I feel like things haven't been right between us since the whole 'he's more my child than yours' incident."

Angela took her hand off of Brennan's stomach, looking at her with a confused expression.

"Why do you think that?" She asked.

"I just feel like we haven't been honest with one another lately. Like we purposely don't say things to make sure it doesn't start and argument. And, between you and I, we haven't made love since the fight."

"Ouch. Two weeks without great sex?"

Brennan nodded before Angela continued.

"Is the desire just gone? Or..."

"The night of the fight Booth tried, but I told him that he couldn't say hurtful things and then, just because he left me a flower and a mixed CD, expect sex."

Angela rolled her eyes.

"Men," she scoffed, "they're so simple. They think they can just give you a gift and you'll jump right into bed with them. I mean, granted, he's your husband, so it's a little different, but it's the same basic concept."

Brennan looked down at her hands, looking at the gold band around her left ring finger.

"Sometimes I forget we're married," she admitted quietly, running her thumb over the metal, "I feel so distant from him lately."

"It's a rough patch, Brennan," Angela assured her, "thing will get better."

"Booth and I are not okay, Angela," Brennan's voice was soft when she finally admitted it aloud, "we have a baby on the way. We should be closer than ever, but I feel like we're further apart than ever. I feel like we're back to square one, and that frightens me. I want to be with him, I love him, but I fear that it isn't working."

"You know what I'm going to say to that."

"I know, hormones."

"Yes," Angela laughed lightly, "you know what I think you should do? Get naughty," she paused, knowing she was about to get scolded, "sorry, 'make love' tonight, and then call out of work tomorrow and spend the day together. You both need it."

"Well we do need to start decorating the baby's room," she pondered, "Booth has been putting it off. He thought if we decorated the room too early it would be a jinx and something would happen to the baby."

"He's a mush ball," Angela laughed, "on the outside he's Mr. No Nonsense Cop, but underneath it all, he's all soft and squishy. How you can have a thing for Ricky Hernandez when you're married to Seeley Booth is beyond me."

"What? I don't have a thing for Ricky," Brennan felt her cheeks warm up in embarrassment, as Angela's jaw dropped.

"I was only kidding at first, but now I'm starting to think you actually do."

"No, of course not. I love Booth."

"Finding another guy hot doesn't mean you don't love your husband," Angela assured her friend, "but if you think you really might have, you know, .feelings for Ricky, you have to cut off your partnership. You and Booth haven't been at your best. Ricky's been acting sweet because he knows that. He wants you to fall into bed with him after a fight."

"He's just a good friend, Angela, I don't know why that is so difficult for you to understand," Brennan was growing tired of her friend trying to convince her that Ricky wanted to sleep with her, "I would never 'fall into bed' with Ricky because Booth and I argued. I wouldn't cheat on my husband."

"I'm not saying you're going to, I'm saying that's what he wants."

"You don't know what he wants. No one knows what he wants except for him."

Angela paused with a sigh, running her hands through her hair, unsure of whether she wanted to share this last bit of information with Brennan or not. She probably wouldn't believe her anyway. For some reason, she felt as if Ricky could do no wrong, and she was very protective of him all of the sudden. Maybe knowing this would actually snap her into reality a bit.

"Brennan, he told me."

Brennan looked at her curiously, not necessarily believing her. She had a hard time believing that her partner would just blatantly tell her best friend that he wanted to sleep with her, especially when he knew she was married and had a baby on the way.

"He said that? He told you he wants to sleep with me?"

"Well, not exactly. He said he wants someone he can't have," Angela tried to read her expression before she continued, "he was talking about how the person he wants is happy the way she is, and how he doesn't want to ruin that, and how he won't tell her how he feels because he knows it would never happen."

Brennan bit her lip in thought, trying to come up with different people he could have been talking about. None came to mind.

"I love Booth, Angela, it doesn't matter if we're going through a bit of a 'rough patch'. Things will work between us, because we love each other. Booth says that's what matters in a relationship. Nothing else."

"I'm glad to hear that," she said, honestly, "and I don't think you would cheat on Booth. I just think you need to watch out for Ricky, that's all. I think he's working an angle and you're just not realizing it."

"I will," she promised, even though she still wasn't sure if it was _Angela _who wastrying to work an angle, "I'll be cautious. I promise."

* * *

><p>"Las Vegas was fun," Brennan continued she and Booth's conversation on the best work related trips they'd taken, once they stepped out of the elevator, coming home from Founding Fathers late that night, "I thoroughly enjoyed playing the character of Roxie. She was very subtly seductive."<p>

"Yeah, subtle, that's the exact word I'd use," Booth responded sarcastically.

"What? What do you mean?" Brennan's voice was an octave higher than usual as she used her defensive tone, watching her husband reach into the pocket of his jacket to pull out his key, "I was very subtle."

"Yeah, because keeping money in your bra is so subtle, Bones."

Brennan had to smile, knowing she'd been proven wrong.

"You kept insisting we be a committed couple," she reminded him as he unlocked the door, but kept it closed, looking at her seriously, "what?"

"Ever think that was because I wanted to be a committed couple? You know, for real?" He asked.

And for the first time, Brennan caught on. She had always thought that he was just trying to be a pain in the ass with the whole 'committed couple' argument in Las Vegas with their characters. Now she knew it was because he wanted to play out his fantasy.

"Why do I feel like there are still so many things I don't know about you?" She asked with a smile, as he smiled back and opened the door.

"Well I'm full of mystery, Bones," he joked, glancing at her over his shoulder as he turned the light on in the apartment, "for example-"

"Hi," the voice of Max Keenan startled them both.

Without hesitation, Booth pulled his gun out of his holster, holding it to the man standing in his living room, who was supposed to be in jail.

"Max, put your hands where I can see them," he warned.

"You know, holding a gun to your father-in-law isn't a great way to great him," Max laughed lightly, seeing that his daughter's husband's expression wasn't budging, "relax, Booth. I got out."

"Seriously? This is where you're going to come after a jail break?" Booth asked, "Just because I'm married to your daughter doesn't mean I won't arrest you."

"No, no, I didn't escape from jail," Max assured him, with a shake of his head, even though he was still holding his hands up in a surrender to make sure Booth didn't think he was trying anything, "someone confessed. William Ray. Confessed to the whole thing, said he killed Villeda over drugs, or money, or something."

Brennan narrowed her eyes at her father, knowing for a fact that something wasn't right. William Ray was a familiar name. She knew that name. And then it hit her. He was one of her father's friends. Now she knew, without a doubt, that Max had hired a hit man to kill Villeda because of what he did to her, and that made her furious. Yet, she chose not to say anything.

"He confessed? Almost ten months later?" Booth asked.

"Yeah, listen, I don't know the details, but could ya' stop pointing that thing at me? It's making me a little nervous."

Brennan placed her hand on Booth's arm, pushing gently on it, silently asking him to comply to her father's wishes and put his gun away. He un-cocked his gun and placed it back in his holster, silently relieved that he wasn't going to have to arrest Max again. He was his father-in-law, after all, and he liked him too much to want to throw him in jail.

"I'm not sure that this adds up," Booth said, still skeptical of the situation, "but, I guess you wouldn't have been released from jail if it wasn't true. And how the hell did you get home to change?"

"A buddy of mine picked me up, and brought me to the store to get something. But here's the thing, I tried to go home, but my door is locked, and my keys are kind of locked inside, so I can't get in."

Brennan and Booth exchanged glances.

"Well there are some very nice hotels around here," Brennan told him, "I can pay."

"No, you know what, Max? Stay here," Booth offered.

Brennan looked at him pleadingly, trying to be as discreet as possible, not wanting her father to know that she really didn't want him staying with them.

"It'd only be until I can get back into my house," Max told his daughter when he saw the look on her face, "but, you know, I don't want to impose or anything, so I'll stay at a hotel."

"No, don't be silly, Max, no imposing here," Booth assured him, "I'll go with you to your place tomorrow and get you in. But it's late now, and you're probably tired."

"Booth, we already got rid of the guest bed and painted the room for the baby," she reminded him.

"He can take the couch, Bones," he nudged her gently with his arm, "can I talk to you in the kitchen for a minute?"

When they reached the kitchen so they could talk in private, Brennan wasted no time before voicing her feelings on the subject to her husband.

"I don't want him staying with us."

"It's the least I can do. Remember he let me stay with him a while ago when you were staying there because he didn't want Parker and I to get into an accident? He wants to be around people who care about him right now. That's you."

"We are going to bed, Booth, he won't even be around me," she reminded him.

"It's the premise," he looked at her seriously, "please, just do this for me, okay?"

Brennan leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Fine," she agreed, "for you."

* * *

><p>Brennan was practically panting as she kissed her husband, feeling his lips abandon hers to kiss her chin softly before he moved to her neck, his lips touching her neck in the way that made her moan softly and tilt her head up in encouragement.<p>

"Booth," she moaned softly, her hand slipping under his shirt.

"Mmm?" He mumbled against her skin, nipping gently, causing her to gasp.

"I...I want you," she paused, wrapping his hair around her fingers, "Angela says we should make love tonight. She thinks it would be good for us."

Booth couldn't help but to laugh lightly as her hands moved to rid him of his shirt.

"Bones, not tonight," Booth laughed lightly when Brennan's hands moved to tug his shirt over his head, after, what felt like hours, of kissing, "your father's here."

Brennan rolled her eyes.

"I kind of understood you not wanting to do it in his house, but this is _our_ apartment," she reminded him, "we'll be quiet."

Booth laughed again, pressing another soft kiss to her neck.

"I don't really think we're capable, baby."

His words only caused her to feel ten times more aroused than she already was.

"You're not loud," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair now, "I'm the noisy one. And I'll be quiet, I promise."

"Again, not sure if you're capable," he moved up to kiss her head when he saw the look of disappointment on her face, "oh, Bones. You know I want to, but I don't want Max to hear. I know, before you say it, he knows what we do, but he doesn't need to hear me making love to his daughter while he's trying to sleep right after getting out of jail."

"He didn't have to stay here. I offered him a hotel."

With a small huff, Booth looked at her, unable to resist her innocent, pleading eyes.

"You're impossible, you know that?" He asked.

"Does that mean we can make love?"

Booth brushed his fingers through her hair, tucking a lock behind her ear.

"Bones, in all seriousness, you have to be really quiet. The living room is not that far away."

"I will, I promise," she swore, already starting to pull his shirt over his head once he agreed, without actually saying he was agreeing, "now can you kiss me again?"

Booth laughed and leaned down to kiss her lips again, helping her with his shirt, only breaking the kiss to get it over his head, before sliding his hands under her tank top, peeling it over her head afterwards. Admittedly, he stopped caring about the noise at that point, too focused on having her for the first time in two weeks instead as they worked in a group effort on her pants.

"Bones," he murmured incoherently against her skin, pressing soft kisses to her chest when she trailed her fingernails over his back once her pants were gone, "baby."

"Don't call me baby," her voice was now coming in a breathy whisper, as she kissed his shoulders, pushing his pants off of his hips now, "it makes me think you can't remember who you're making love to."

"Of course I remember," he laughed lightly, "Temperance Brennan. My Bones. That's who I'm making love to. The only woman I want to make love to."

"Oh, Booth," she sighed in pleasure, at a combination of his sweet words and the fact that his fingers were ghosting over her hips, "make love to me."

Without any further hesitation, he kissed her again, and proceeded to make love to her, their volume being the last thing on his mind for the rest of the night.


	8. It's Because They Love Us

**A/N: Short author's note, since I wanted to post this before I have to go to school. I like to keep up my reputation as a fast poster. xD And I actually wrote this chapter within an hour and a half. For some reason it came really easily to me. **

**Anyway, I know some of you have been upset that Brennan has not been being very nice to Booth throughout this sequel, so in this chapter, they are very lovey-dovey. Just for you guys. You're welcome. xD**

Chapter Eight:

"It's Because They Love Us"

Brennan couldn't imagine that she would ever grow tired of waking up cuddled up with her husband to the feeling of the sun warming her skin through the window in their bedroom. It was peaceful. When she woke up, her hair sprawled out across the white pillow, she arched her back and made a small noise, scooting closer to Booth. She could feel him shift as he made a noise in response to hers, turning his head to look at her sleepily.

"Morning," he whispered, looking down at her as she smiled up at him innocently.

He loved the way she looked first thing in the morning, with disheveled hair and no make-up, the way her eyes glimmered in the early morning sunlight. She was so naturally gorgeous, it took him by surprise sometimes. It was almost like sometimes he'd forget.

"What?" Brennan asked, with a small laugh as she looked at him, her voice still slightly raspy from just waking up.

"Nothing," Booth laughed as well, simply taking his time to admire her, "it's just, this is when you look the most beautiful. First thing in the morning, before you do your hair or make-up. You're so naturally beautiful."

Brennan blushed slightly, pushing her hair over her shoulder.

"You aren't so bad yourself," she twisted his comment so it seemed light-hearted, since she still wasn't completely used to receiving those types of compliments, even though they had been together for almost a year at this point.

Booth watched her hands as she tried to wrap one around one of his biceps, barely able to get it halfway around. He laughed as she gave up, simply smoothing her palm over his arm.

"How did I end up with you?" He asked softly, looking into her still sleepy eyes, "How did I get so lucky?"

"Let's not get carried away, Booth," she laughed lightly.

"I'm not getting carried away," he laughed as well, taking her hand off of his arm to press their palms together, lacing his fingers through hers, "you know how many guys would kill to be with you? And I'm that lucky guy that gets to."

"I hope you know that everywhere we go, there's women staring at you too," she filled him in on the fact that he, apparently, wasn't aware of, "that red headed waitress at the diner always flirts with you. Half the female suspects we interrogate only give you information because you're an attractive male. And when you're an expert witness at trials, forget about it. None of the women are listening to you. They're fantasizing."

"I don't think so, Bones," he told her, kissing her bare shoulder softly before looking at her again, "I'm hot, but I'm not _that_ hot."

"I think you are," she shrugged, casually, "especially when I can reduce the large, intimidating Special Agent Seeley Booth to tightly closing his eyes and moaning in pleasure."

"Hey, hey, hey, _now_ who's getting carried away?" He stopped her before she could continue her description of him in bed, "Save the dirty talk for tonight."

"How about I get the dirty talk out of the way now and we can indulge in some," she paused, trying to remember Angela's words, "early morning delight? I think that's what it's called at least."

Booth couldn't help but laugh at the term.

"Angela?" He asked.

"She informed me of that phrase. Is it common?"

"No, but I know what you mean," he told her, "even though you were never really a big fan of morning sex, so I'm not sure what made you come around."

"Maybe all that talking about how attractive we are made my biological urges grow stronger," she smiled, running her hand over his chest, "or maybe I just think you look incredibly sexy right now."

"Or maybe you're just pregnant and hormonal."

"Are you complaining?"

"No, of course not," Booth laughed, cupping her face between his hands so he could bring her lips down to his, kissing her softly.

Brennan smiled against his lips, moving her hands to run through his hair, pulling the sheets tighter around both of them. She laughed through the kiss when Booth turned her onto her back and the baby kicked at her.

"I don't think Christian likes you being on top of me," she laughed lightly.

"Which is why mama's gonna be on top, alright, little man? No worries," he addressed the baby with a smile, "her belly's too big to do it like this anyway."

He looked up from her stomach and could see her smile fade, quickly turning into a frown.

"Which isn't a bad thing," he added, with a smile, "it just means that she's carrying little baby you inside her. And that's actually a beautiful thing."

"Oh stop, Booth," she laughed lightly, giving his shoulder a playful shove, "now you're just trying to cover your own ass because you called me fat."

"I didn't call you fat," he tickled her ribs gently causing her to squirm, "you have my baby growing inside you. Do you know how incredibly sexy that is? When I say that you have a big belly now, I'm just stating a fact."

Brennan could help but smile as she reached up to press her palm to his cheek.

"I wish we could make love like this," she admitted, feeling her eyes start to well up with tears that she knew were only being caused by the hormones, "it's so frustrating. I just want my husband to make love to me, and he can't because I'm too pregnant and my huge pregnant stomach is in the way."

"Bones, relax, it's only for another month," he promised, kissing her cheek apologetically, knowing her hormones were getting the best of her at the moment,"I just don't want you to be uncomfortable. Right now the sex isn't about what I like or what you like, it's about what's comfortable for you, okay?"

Brennan nodded as he wiped a tear off her cheek.

"Listen to me, Temperance. No tears, alright?"

"Okay," Brennan's voice was soft, feeling his lips against hers once again.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as she held onto him through their kiss, allowing him to turn her onto her side. His palm cupped her cheek when their tongues met, causing her to scoot closer, wanting to feel more skin against skin. She was disappointed when he pulled away, looking at her questioningly.

"Do you smell that?" He asked.

Brennan inhaled, and behind the scent of Booth, she could smell something familiar.

"It smells like coffee," she commented.

And then they both groaned in unison. They had completely forgotten about Max. Booth glanced at the clock, seeing that it was already fairly late, and that they didn't have time for another go-round with her father in the apartment.

"I guess we should...get dressed," he said, reluctantly.

"Yes, we probably should," Brennan agreed, she leaned in to peck his lips softly twice, hearing him groan in playful disappointment when she forced herself to get out of bed before it turned into something more, leaving him alone under the covers.

Booth turned over onto his back, turning his head to look over at her after she slipped herself into her robe. Brennan could feel his eyes on her even when her back was to him, and arched her back to stretch it out.

"You're staring, Booth," she laughed lightly, turning around to confirm her suspicion.

Booth laughed and sat up straight, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"You're so hot," he told her honestly, "so incredibly hot."

Brennan laughed and rolled her eyes playfully.

"Alright, relax," she laughed, "don't get yourself too worked up."

"Can't help it," he smiled, seeing her smile in return, "you wanna shower first?"

Normally they would shower together, but Brennan knew that would probably be extremely awkward for her father. Besides, she would never be able to convince her prude husband and shower with her when they had company.

"Yeah, I'll shower first," she told him, digging through the dresser drawers to find something to wear, tossing him clothes for himself as she found them, "get dressed in something you would sleep in so my father thinks we just woke up."

Booth changed into the clothes she gave him, a simple black t-shirt, that he knew she picked out on purpose, since it was one of her favorites, and grey sweat pants. He went outside the bedroom after he was dressed, seeing Max sitting at the kitchen table sipping on his coffee.

"Hiya, Max," Booth greeted him warmly.

Max looked up from the crossword puzzle he was working on with a smile.

"Hey, Booth," his tone was just as warm, "I made coffee."

"Yeah, Bones and I could smell it," he laughed lightly, getting himself a coffee cup out of the cabinet before going over to the pot, "we forgot you were here."

"Apparently," Max chuckled awkwardly.

"Hm?"

"Nothing, nothing, just...talking to myself, that's all."

Booth eyed him curiously for a second as he poured his coffee.

"You getting at something, Max?" He asked.

Max took a deep breath, unsure of how he wanted to word this.

"Listen, son, I know you and my daughter have a healthy adult relationship. I mean, you're married, and she's pregnant, so I guess that's proof right there, but I don't need any more detail than that, and I sure got an ear full last night."

Booth could feel his whole body warm up, feeling immensely embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized vehemently, "I remembered you were here. I told her if we were going to, you know, that she had to keep it down. But I guess we weren't being as quiet as we thought we were."

"You thought you were being quiet?" Max had to laugh, "I had to turn on the TV to drown you kids out. Now, I like you, Booth, and Tempe loves you. The fact that you make her happy makes me happy. But she's still my little girl, even though she's not so little anymore, and I don't want to hear you pleasuring her from a few rooms away. It's very awkward."

"Sorry, Max," he apologized again, unable to think of anything better to say.

"No need to apologize, son, as long as it doesn't happen again," Max laughed, seeing that he made him uncomfortable, "so, how's the coffee? Too strong? Not strong enough?"

Booth was taken aback by how casually he changed the subject, turning the uncomfortable conversation into one about coffee.

"The coffee's fine," he said, taking another sip, as he tried to forget about the whole conversation that just took place, "the coffee's just fine."

* * *

><p>"This goddamn thing is impossible," Booth was sitting on the floor trying to set up Christian's crib, but was growing increasingly more frustrated the longer he tried, "it's a crib. I don't see why it needs to have seven hundred pieces."<p>

"Maybe if you stop getting so worked up it'll be easier," Brennan suggested, sitting next to him and picking up the directions to read them, "Booth, it's very simple. If you'd just read the directions it would be a lot easier."

"I don't need directions," he muttered, tossing the piece that was in his hand on the floor as he waited for his wife's help.

"Here," Brennan picked up a piece to connect it to the base of what he had already started, "you were trying to stick this in the wrong place. That's why you need to read the directions," when she connected the pieces they clicked together, "you need to make sure this is safe for our child to sleep in. I don't want it collapsing."

"I shouldn't need directions to set up a crib. It should be simple. Why the hell did we get this one again?"

"That was the one you wanted," she reminded him, with a small laugh, "actually, you insisted we get this one. You said it looked the nicest."

"It did look the nicest, but I didn't know it was going to be such a pain in the ass," he stretched his arms behind him and leaned back on them, letting out a long sigh, "I need a break."

"You've been working for twenty minutes."

"Twenty long and extremely grueling minutes," he looked to the ceiling, "you know, setting up the baby stuff is making me anxious for Christian to come. I know there's only a month left, but it feels like it's going to drag on forever."

"Tell me about it, I'm the one who he's kicking at every five minutes," she laughed lightly, scooting closer to him so she could rest her head against his shoulder, "I just want to go into labor already. I want our baby."

"Well if you went into labor now it would probably not be a good thing, so how about we just wait the month?" He laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her as close as she was going to get.

Brennan looked up at him from where her head was resting against his shoulder.

"What do you think it'll be like?" She asked.

"Having a baby in the house?"

Brennan nodded.

"It'll be hectic, but we'll love it," Booth assured her, "think about coming home for the first time, with a little baby all bundled up. He's gonna need his sleep, but neither of us is going to want to put him down. We're going to have people here wanting to see him, people bringing gifts and food and all this other stuff that we don't need. Come to think of it, I think our friends might make things more hectic than the baby in the beginning."

Brennan laughed.

"And you know they will all be very annoying," she reminded him, "Angela will probably be here constantly, and she'll probably bring Hodgins. Cam and Sweets might stop by too, and maybe Zack. We'll probably wind up having to kick them all out."

"It's because they love us," he nudged her playfully.

"It's because they want to play with a baby. It has nothing to do with us. Which I don't see why they would, considering babies don't do much when they're first born. It isn't until a few months into their lives that they become alert and responsive."

"Yeah, but when they're first born they're all cuddly and they smell good."

"Don't tell Angela that. She'll never put him down if he wants to cuddle with her."

Booth laughed and kissed temple, resting his head against hers affectionately as they sat together on the floor of the nursery, thinking about how much their lives were going to change with the addition of their baby. _Their baby_. Sometimes the words still sounded surreal to him, even though it had been eight months since she began carrying their child. He loved this woman so much, and he loved their child. It was days like this, when they took off from work and just spent time together, talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company, that he remembered why he fell in love with her.

"You're perfect, Bones," his voice was soft when he spoke after a long, drawn out pause.

"No I'm not," she told him, simply.

"You're perfect for me," he rephrased, "and, if you ask me, that's perfect."

"Are you getting all soft and sentimental?" She laughed softly.

"I might be," he had to laugh as well, "just go along with it, okay?"

"Well, I don't know how you would like me to respond to that."

"Something along the lines of 'I love you, Booth' would be sufficient."

"Okay," Brennan smiled, taking her head off of his shoulder to lean up and kiss his cheek softly, "I love you, Booth."

"I love you too, Bones," he kissed her cheek in return, "I'm so in love with you."

Brennan smiled and wrapped her arms around him, the smile remaining on her face as they sat in the mess of pieces from the baby's crib, and held each other close.


	9. I Should Make My Own Decisions

**A/N: Okay, so I really don't have much to say for this author's note, other than an apology in advanced. If you didn't like Ricky before...well, just read. xD**

**Question: How do I think B&B will handle a baby in the show?  
>Answer: That's a tough one. I honestly have no idea. Normally I would think they would move in together and raise their baby together, but, I don't know. I feel like Hart Hanson won't give us all what we want that easily. xD<strong>

Chapter Nine:

"I Should Make My Own Decisions"

_Knock, knock, knock_.

"Morning, Ange," Brennan smiled at her best friend when she walked into the artist's office.

"You're smiley today," Angela observed, having to smile herself at her friend's particularly good mood that morning, "did that day off do you some good?"

"I actually feel very relaxed," Brennan told her, honestly, "I think you were right. I think Booth and I needed to take a day. Things are getting hectic, we both know that, and we are starting to see that we need to take time out to spend time with each other. It has become difficult ever since our partnership was severed, but we know it's a priority."

"That's the spirit, sweetie. So now if Ricky and Booth both ask you to go to lunch, you're going to go with Studly, right?"

"Well if I already told Ricky I was going to lunch with him I wouldn't want to break a promise," Brennan shrugged, "spending time with Booth doesn't mean _not_ spending time with Ricky, as much as I know you want it to. It just means taking time out of my day to spend with my husband, even if it's late at night when I return from work."

"What did you two do yesterday? Other than each other, I mean," Angela winked, causing her friend's cheeks to glow just the faintest shade of pink.

"We finished setting up the baby's room," a small smile came to her face when she spoke about her baby, "even though it is just a silly thing, it makes all of this so much more real. Every time I walked passed the room yesterday, after it was finished, I peeked inside and tried to imagine what it will be like when we have a baby sleeping in there."

"Is the anticipation killing you yet?"

"Yes," Brennan laughed lightly, "although, I am starting to get nervous. My doctor said I should start watching out for premature labor now. She said if the baby was born now, he would more than likely still make it, but there would be complications."

"Why would she tell you that?" Angela asked, feeling slightly annoyed by the doctor's harsh warning, even though it wasn't even directed towards her, "Is she trying to scare you?"

"No, she just wants to make sure that I'm aware," Brennan shrugged, not seeing anything wrong with it, "she says if anything doesn't feel right I should see her and make sure everything is still going smoothly."

Angela half smiled sympathetically.

"Are you really scared?" She asked.

"Yes," Brennan admitted, with a nod, "I can't even think about what it would be like if something were to happen to Chris," she paused, looking at Angela with guilty eyes, "when I first found out I was pregnant, I didn't think I was ready for a baby. After I took the pregnancy test, I sat in the bathroom and cried for a good ten minutes. I didn't care what happened to him. But now, if something were to happen, I don't think I'd be able to deal with it."

"Sweetie, nothing is going to happen," Angela assured her, "the doctor said you're both perfectly healthy."

Brennan nodded.

"I know. She says everything is going well, and I've been asking her a lot of questions about how I've been feeling, and she's been telling me that all of it is normal, but I don't know. It doesn't feel very normal."

"It's not supposed to feel normal. You have a full grown baby inside you."

Brennan sighed and looked down at her stomach, pressing her palm flat against it. She knew it wasn't rational, but she couldn't help but worry about the health of her baby. She and Booth had been to the doctor numerous times, and every time she told them that Brennan was having a perfectly normal and healthy pregnancy, but she always still feared that something was wrong. Booth would tell her it was because she loved Christian, and was protective of him, since she was his mother, but it still made her uneasy.

"I guess you're right," she finally agreed, "I just love him, that's all."

"And as soon as he's born, he's going to love you too," Angela promised her.

"Actually, babies do not have formative memories. He will be incapable of feeling anything for Booth and I because his brain will barely be functional. Maybe he'll recognize my voice, but that will be as far as it will go."

"Brennan, he'll love you. Don't try to make it all science-y."

They both smiled and shared a small laugh before Angela's office door opened and Hodgins came inside, looking more prepared to go out somewhere than to work.

"Hey, Doctor B," he smiled, pulling her into a friendly hug, letting go of her before he addressed her stomach, the way all of her friends had been doing lately, "hey there, little guy. You all ready to come out soon so we can actually see you?"

"One month," Brennan informed him, "it doesn't sound like long but it feels like forever."

"How does it fit in there? If he gets any bigger you're probably going to pop like a balloon," Hodgins seemed fascinated by her pregnant belly, as he put his hand there, looking surprised when he felt it move, "oh, hey, he just moved!"

"Hodgins, even though they won't tell you, pregnant women hate having their stomach touched," Angela informed her husband, slapping his arm away from her friend's stomach.

"No, I don't mind, honestly," Brennan shrugged, "I'm used to it by now. Booth is always doing it, and Ange, you do it all the time too."

"Yeah but it's different because Booth's your husband and I'm your best friend," she shrugged casually, as if that were a completely reasonable argument.

"Hey, I'm her friend," Hodgins reminded his wife.

"Yeah, but not her _best_ friend," Angela brushed his comment off quickly before she returned to why he was in her office in the first place, "babe, can you just give me a few minutes to finish this sketch and then we'll do lunch?"

"Yeah, of course," Hodgins took a step closer to her so their lips could meet, "just come get me when you're finished."

"I will," Angela kissed him again before he could turn around to walk out, and she watched him leave with a satisfied smile, a smile that told Brennan she was proud that he was her husband.

Brennan watched him go as well, but not with the same smile that Angela did. She simply watched him leave because she had nothing else to look at. After he was gone, Angela turned her attention back to her friend.

"He looks hot today," she commented on her husband's appearance, "don't you think?"

"Do you really want an answer to that or is it just one of those questions that is spoken aloud, but doesn't need a response?" Brennan asked.

"The second one," Angela laughed, before she completely changed the subject, "Cam wanted me to tell you that you need to finish identifying the remains of those soldiers that got sent to us last week."

"Finish?" Brennan was surprised by the request, "Ange, I barely started."

"She said they need to be finished by the end of the week," Angela shrugged, "I'm just relaying the message. She said something about it needing to be your top priority."

"Well I have other things to work on so she may have to wait," her last words faded when there was a knock on Angela's door.

The artist huffed, assuming her husband was back trying to convince her to come out to lunch now, since he got very pushy when he was hungry.

"Babe, I said I have to finish something up first."

"Angela, I'm flattered that you're calling me 'babe', but it's Ricky. Is Bren in there?"

Angela huffed and rolled her eyes to the ceiling when she heard the voice of the man who she knew she wasn't going to be able to stand much longer. She hated how he thought he was part of the team now. The way he just showed up at the lab, the way he was so sickeningly nice to everyone, the way he now called Brennan 'Bren', his equivalent to the way Booth called her 'Bones'. It was beginning to drive her crazy. Seeing the look on her face, Brennan looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Be kind, Ange," she whispered pleadingly, before addressing the man standing outside the door, "yes, Ricky, I'm in here. You can come in."

The doorknob turned as he opened the door, offering Angela a friendly smile as a hello, only to receive a mumbled 'hi' in response.

"Bren, we've gotta go," he told her urgently, "Johnson's lawyer is waiting for us."

"Ricky, I can't," she shook her head, "I have soldiers who were killed in combat to identify by the end of this week."

"Well the soldiers can wait, Bren, we already know how they died. I've got a potential murderer's lawyer waiting for us right now. You need to come with me."

"You're going to have to find someone else to go with you because I can't," this had been the first time she even came close to growing annoyed with her new partner. She didn't know what his problem was, but he was being especially pushy that day. "I have things to do here. This is my job, working with you is just something else I do. My job here at the Jeffersonian takes priority. Besides, Booth says I shouldn't be going out and talking to suspects, or lawyers, or anyone of that nature. He says it's stress me out which will, in turn, stress out the baby."

Ricky rolled his eyes.

"So this has nothing to do with your work, it has to do with Booth not wanting you to work with me?"

"It isn't about you, Ricky, it's about my baby," she remembered Booth's words from the morning that they got into the big fight about her needing to think about Christian and put him before herself, "I know you don't care about my baby, but Booth and I do."

"Bren," his tone softened, when he realized that maybe he was being a little snippy with her, "I'm sorry. Of course I care about your baby. I just really need you to come with me, because you were with me when we first interrogated Johnson."

"But I'm telling you I can't," she softened her tone as well.

Angela, finally having enough of Ricky's antics, cut in.

"Jeez, how many times does she have to say she can't before you give it a rest?" She snapped, taking both Brennan and Ricky by surprise, "She has work to do here, Agent Hernandez. If she can't go, she can't go. Stop being so pushy."

"Ange, I know you mean well, but please mind your business," Brennan scolded her gently, not wanting anything to start between her partner and her best friend now.

Ricky didn't respond to Angela, not wanting to argue with her now. He knew she didn't like him, probably hated him, actually, but he didn't have a problem with her. And besides, this was between him and his partner. Brennan was right. It really was none of the artist's business.

"I'm sorry, Brennan, but I've had it," she was beginning to lose her patients, as she crossed her arms over her chest, "you need to take it easy. Booth and I have been telling you this for weeks now, and you don't listen. Now we've got Ricky in here trying to get you to go with him out into the field and exert yourself even more than you already are. It's like he could care less what happens to Christian."

"Angela, she's the one working. If she was taking time off from work, I wouldn't be asking her to come with me. But she's here, so she obviously feels well enough to go out."

"Barely," Angela uncrossed her arms to place her hands on her hips, "she needs to relax and she knows that, she's just too damn stubborn to do it. And you're not helping. You shouldn't be encouraging her to keep working when she's eight months pregnant."

"You know I'm only standing three feet away," Brennan reminded them, when they spoke about her as if she couldn't hear them.

"Well it's something you need to hear too, sweetie. Booth is right. You shouldn't be going out into the field anymore."

"I think you and Booth should be letting her make her own decisions," Ricky cut in, only managing to annoy Angela more than she already was, before turning his attention back to his partner, "Bren, only you know how you feel. Don't do something because Booth and Angela say you should. Do what you think is right. I know plenty of people who have been going to work up until they gave birth and have had perfectly healthy kids."

"You know, Ricky, it'd be great if you'd stop taking shots at her husband and best friend, acting like we don't know what we're talking about," Angela told him.

"Please, stop," Brennan pleaded, "I can't deal with the two of you bickering over me anymore. Ricky's right. I should make my own decisions. I feel fine."

Angela's jaw dropped when she heard the words. This was the woman who, only a minute ago, was telling her that she was afraid of going into pre-mature labor. If there was one thing that could send someone into pre-mature labor, it was stress. And now, just because Ricky Hernandez was there, she was willing to risk that.

"Sweetie, I know you want to get along smoothly with your new partner, but you don't have to comply to his every wish," Angela told her softly, "think of it this way. If this was Booth you wouldn't have a problem telling him no."

"This has nothing to do with Booth, Angela," Brennan reminded her, "I feel well enough to go with Ricky."

Angela turned to face Ricky.

"You're unbelievable," she told him, "taking advantage of her because she doesn't want to hurt your feelings."

"I'm not taking advantage of anything, all I said was that she should make her own choices on whether or not she thinks she can still work."

"My ass, Hernandez."

Brennan was growing sick of them fighting, unable to stand it anymore. Their arguing was stressing her out more than any of her work was. When she was about to snap at them, tell them both to shut up, something stopped her. A sharp pain in her lower stomach. And, all of the sudden, none of this was important anymore. Their fighting just became background noise, and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

"Bren? You alright?" Ricky asked when he saw the color drain out of her face.

"I..." Brennan paused, barely able to get the words passed her lips, "I...have to use the bathroom."

Before either of them could say anything in response, she was hastily making her way out of Angela's office and to the bathroom, knocking to make sure no one else was in there before closing and locking the door behind her. When another sharp pain came on, she sank to the floor next to the sink, clutching her stomach with one hand and pulling her phone out with the other. She dialed the only number she knew she wanted and needed to at the moment, and waited as it rang.

"Booth."

"Booth?" Her voice was soft, hollow.

"Bones?" He asked, barely recognizing the sound of her voice.

"My stomach hurts," her voice was quivering, but she wouldn't allow herself to cry, squeezing her eyes shut in pain as she leaned her chest against her knees.

There was a drawn out pause on the other end of the phone before Booth spoke again.

"Are you having contractions?" He asked, trying to keep his tone even.

"I don't know," she shook her head, even though he couldn't see her, her voice getting increasingly more shaky the more she spoke, even though both of them maintained a calm, quiet volume, "I don't know what it is. But I'm in a lot of pain. Angela and Ricky were bickering, and I asked them to stop, but they wouldn't. And they just kept shouting over me. They were giving me such a bad headache, and then I got a sharp pain in my abdomen."

"Is it gone now?" He asked.

"It's a little better. But it's not completely gone."

"Just try to relax, baby," his voice was soothing, but it wasn't doing much to ease her pain at the moment, "go home and rest, and if it doesn't go away, we'll go to the hospital."

A few tears pricked at Brennan's eyes when she spoke again, her voice so quiet that Booth struggled to hear it.

"I'm scared."

There was another drawn our pause.

"Do you want to go to the hospital now?" He asked quietly.

"Yes," a few tears escaped her eyes, her voice cracking just slightly.

"Okay, stay at the lab," he tried his best to remain calm, even though, on the inside, he was freaking out a little, "I'll be there as soon as I can."

**Cliffhanger? Evil? I know, I'm sorry.**


	10. I Only Want To Be With Booth

**A/N: Yes, everyone, I didn't want to leave you hanging any longer, especially since you were all pretty responsive to that chapter. =] So here you go, wait no more. And I know most of you hate Ricky, and have been requesting the end of him, but bear with me, because he's going to be sticking around. I know I'm horrible, torturing you all with Ricky and the slight angst he's causing between B&B, but I feel as if the finale gave me permission to be angsty, since it was all sweet and fluffy. xD**

Chapter Ten:

"I Only Want To Be With Booth"

It was too quiet in the little hospital room. It was so quiet, that Brennan could feel her ears starting to ring. She felt Christian shift, and immediately reached for her husband's hand, feeling him take it comfortingly in his when he saw that she needed it at the moment. He looked down at her, from where she was sitting up in her hospital bed, running his thumb over her knuckles as they held hands.

"Booth?" She asked, quietly.

"Yeah, Bones?" His voice was tender when he spoke, attempting to comfort her.

Brennan shook her head, bringing his hand up to her mouth to kiss it softly, pressing the back of his hand to her cheek afterwards.

"It's okay, Bones," he leaned down to kiss her head gently, feeling a warm tear touch the back of his hand when it trickled down her cheek, "everything is going to be okay."

Brennan squeezed her eyes shut, keeping the back of his hand pressed tightly to her cheek.

"What if it's not?" Her voice cracked when she spoke, "What if...what if something happens to Chris? What if we..." she started to cry again, feeling Booth's hand, the one that she wasn't holding, move to stroke her hair, "what if we lose him?"

"We won't," he promised her, kissing her head again, "he'll be fine. You said that you could feel him moving before. And, I'm not a doctor, but the ultrasound looked normal to me. That's a good sign. It means he's okay."

"I don't know," she said, shakily, opening her eyes again so she could look up at him, "Booth...I..." she paused, giving his hand a tight squeeze, "can you please just...hug me?"

"Yeah, of course," he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly as she rested her head against his arm the best she could. He hushed her when she cried, holding her close and kissing her head, "shh, it's okay, baby. Don't cry."

It took her about five minutes to get herself under control, finally stopping her tears and letting him go, going back to just holding his hand tightly in hers, staring at the wall of the plain hospital room as she waited for the doctor to come back.

"Hey, Bones," Booth kept his voice soft when he spoke, trying to lighten up the mood. He realized it was likely that nothing was going to make her feel better at the moment when she looked up at him, trying her hardest to look positive, "I brought you something."

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out Jasper, seeing a small smile come to her lips as she took the little pig from his hand. She ran her thumb over the head of the figurine, just her husband's simple, affectionate gesture of bringing Jasper to her while she was in the hospital helping to make her feel better.

"Thank you, Booth," she whispered, closing her fingers around the body of the pig.

About ten minutes later she heard the door open, and her doctor came inside, the same one she had been seeing since she found out she was pregnant. Doctor Avery smiled warmly as she flipped a paper over.

"Temperance your baby is just fine," she told her, not hesitating to give her the news, "everything is going great."

"Then why was she having abdominal pain?" Booth asked.

"It happens," the doctor shrugged, "they were probably just Braxton Hicks contractions. I assure both of you, nothing is wrong, but I'm glad you came here just to be safe. I'm relieved that you don't feel hesitant to come when you think something may be wrong."

"So now what?" Brennan asked.

"We're just going to do a little more blood work and one more ultrasound to be absolutely positive, and then you're free to go home."

Brennan looked up at Booth, a smile on her face.

"See?" He said softly, "I told you everything would be okay."

Doctor Avery couldn't help but smile when Brennan leaned up to kiss her husband softly. They were so in love, that sometimes she felt as if she was intruding when she was in the room with them checking up on the baby. She heard Brennan groan lightly when she picked up the ultrasound gel, indicating her displeasure.

"I'm sorry, Temperance, I know you've been through this a hundred times, and I know it's cold and uncomfortable" she said, apologetically, as Brennan slid her shirt up, "I have two kids. I've been through it a hundred times too."

"I know, it's standard procedure," Brennan assured her.

The first few ultrasounds were exciting, since they were getting to see how their baby was growing and developing, but now Brennan was growing tired of it, the way she was growing tired of everything else that had to do with pregnancy. It wasn't interesting anymore, since the baby had been fully grown for a little while now. Now it was just uncomfortable and irritating.

When Booth let go of her hand, Brennan looked up at him questioningly.

"Where are you going?" She asked, when he looked as if he wanted to go somewhere.

"I'll be right back," he told her, leaning down to kiss her head again, "I'm going to tell Angela and Ricky that everything's okay."

"Okay," she touched his arm softly before he left, hearing the door close behind him.

As soon as he stepped outside the room, Angela looked at him with a worried expression pasted onto her face, quickly standing up and making her way over to him. Without saying a word, she wrapped her arms around her friend's husband, hugging him tightly. Booth looked at Ricky over the artist's shoulder, seeing him stand up as well, smoothing down his suit jacket nervously, knowing Booth was, more than likely, livid with him.

"I'm so sorry, Booth," Angela apologized, "this is all my fault."

"It's alright, Ange," he tried to comfort her, "Bones and Christian are both fine. It was just a little scare, that's all."

Angela let go of him and wiped her tears, but still was not smiling.

"There wouldn't have been a scare if Ricky and I weren't acting like idiots," she told him, honestly, and even though he wouldn't say it, he agreed, "I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be looking out for her, and it turned out to be my fault that she stressed herself out so much that she almost went into labor."

"I know you're looking out for her, which is why I'm not mad," Booth had to use every ounce of his self control and logical reasoning to not take out his frustration on Angela, "hey, Ricky, can you come over here real quick?"

Ricky did as he asked and made his way over to the two of them, not having his usual smiley expression on his face.

"Even though it's not your fault that Bones almost went into premature labor, you two need to be more aware of the fact that she's physically sensitive right now," Booth told them both, keeping his tone even, "I know you don't get along, but, for now, you have to pretend you do. She doesn't need the stress of her partner and her best friend hating each other right now."

"I'm sorry, Booth," Ricky apologized sincerely, "I really am. I had no idea that Angela and I arguing would stress her out to that point. I'm glad the baby's okay."

"Yeah," Booth rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, not completely forgiving either of them yet, but not wanting to make an issue of it. Because of both of them, something could have happened to his son, and the two of them should have known better than to stress Brennan out like that eight months into her pregnancy, especially when she specifically asked them to stop fighting, "she can come home tonight though, which is good."

"That's great," Ricky was relieved when he heard the news, "she's mad, isn't she?"

"I don't know," Booth told him, honestly, "we didn't talk about it."

It was quiet again between the three of them, as Angela looked at her shoes, feeling immensely guilty for everything that was going on. After the long pause, Ricky spoke again.

"Hey, do you mind if I go in there and talk to her once the doctor's all done? I really want to apologize for all of this."

"No, of course not," Booth played it off, even though the idea made him slightly uncomfortable, "of course you can talk to her. She's your partner, after all."

Angela bit her tongue to keep from objecting, since she, apparently, knew much better than Booth how much further his feelings extending from 'partners' for Brennan. She simply tried not to listen as she took a seat again, and Ricky thanked his partner's husband for how understanding he was being through all of this.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Brennan was watching Christian on the monitor as Doctor Avery ran the ultrasound transducer over her stomach, having been quiet since Booth left the room, toying with the St. Christopher medal that hung around her neck and barely saying anything when Doctor Avery would try to strike up small talk.<p>

"So are you feeling better now?" Doctor Avery asked, "Is the pain completely gone?"

"Yes," Brennan nodded, "I'm feeling much better now."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," the doctor responded, as she finished up.

When she was getting everything put away, and wiped the ultrasound gel off of her patient's bulging stomach, Brennan finally asked the question she had been wanting to ask ever since Doctor Avery told her that she needed to start taking it easy if she wanted to avoid all of this happening again.

"Can I still have sex with my husband?" She asked bluntly, knowing that, if he was in the room, he would have winced in embarrassment.

Doctor Avery couldn't help but laugh as she finished cleaning Brennan's stomach.

"Most patients I have are shy about asking things like that," she laughed lightly, "have you been intimate lately?"

"Yes," Brennan told her, "I felt fine. And Booth is very cautious about making sure I'm comfortable during intercourse."

"No discomfort at all? During or after?"

Brennan took a second to think back, but couldn't recall any, shaking her head in response.

"Then it shouldn't be a problem," she told her, with a small smile, "the scare didn't have anything to do with the intimacy, so it should be fine. As long as the blood work comes back good I don't see why not."

Before she left, they had another short conversation about how maybe she should take a break from working, and how she needed to rest more and not stress herself out. Brennan wanted to argue that it wasn't her stressing herself out, it was Ricky and Angela, but knew that they whole story was too complicated to start telling, so stayed quiet and nodded in agreement instead.

It was only a few minutes after the doctor left that she heard a knock on the door. Assuming it was Booth, she called for him to come in, only to tense up when she saw her partner enter the hospital room instead.

"Hey, Bren," his voice was soft, as he closed the door behind him, smiling a warm smile, even though he saw that she was anything but pleased to see him at the moment.

"Hi," her response was cold, as she turned her attention to the wall in front of her.

Ricky half-smiled sympathetically as he made his way over to her, standing next to her bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Fine."

His half smile faded.

"You're mad at me," he observed.

"I'm mad at both of you," she said, referring to him and Angela, "my baby could have been born prematurely, before he was ready to come out, because the two of you were arguing like school children about what _I_ need. I have news for you, Ricky. Only I know what I need."

"I didn't expect any of this, you have to know it wasn't on purpose," he told her, "I'm so sorry for everything, and I know it all could have been avoided, but Angela and I didn't mean to cause you or the baby any harm."

"It doesn't matter if you meant to, it matters that you did, and if my baby died, it would have been your fault and it would have been Angela's fault," she paused, feeling her eyes start to water again, "if Booth and I lost this baby, you two would have been to blame."

"Bren, please, stop getting yourself worked up," he begged, knowing that if she started getting worked up again, Angela would probably be convinced that he was purposely trying to stress her out, and Booth would probably not let him near her for the rest of her pregnancy, "you're getting upset."

"I'm getting upset because of you!" She exclaimed, "I don't want you here, Ricky. I don't want to see you or Angela right now, so when you go back outside, tell her that I need time to put this whole incident behind me before I can speak to either of you. I'm sorry if that hurts, but I just want to be with my husband right now. I only want to be with Booth."

"Okay," his voice was soft, giving into her wishes, since she squeezed her eyes shut and sniffed as a few tears trickled down her cheeks.

She felt his hand move to wipe some of them away for her, causing her to open her eyes and look up at him. The way he looked at her, hurt and apology filling his dark brown eyes, made her feel slightly guilty for freaking out on him the way she did.

"Ricky-"

"No, sh," he hushed her, silencing her by pressing a finger to her lips, "you don't have to say anything. Just listen. I'm sorry, Bren. I would never hurt you on purpose, you know that."

"I know," her voice was muffled by his skin, "but that doesn't mean I'm not angry with you," her words came in clearer when he removed his finger from her lips, seeing that she wanted to speak, "I still want you to leave."

"I know," he assured her, "and I get why."

He leaned down to kiss her cheek gently, causing her to tense up again, her skin burning where his lips just were. She didn't know why the kiss on the cheek made her uncomfortable, as if she was doing something wrong by allowing it. Booth kissed Angela on the cheek all the time. It was simply a friendly gesture.

"When you're ready to talk, you can give me a call," he told her.

Brennan simply nodded.

"I'll get Booth for you, okay?"

She nodded again and watched as he left, not even letting the door close before he called Booth over, telling him that she wanted him there. She couldn't help but smile when her husband took the door from Ricky and entered the room, closing it behind him. He gestured towards the door when he spoke to her.

"Was he bothering you?" He asked.

"No," Brennan half lied, since he was bothering her, but not to the point where she wanted Booth to break his jaw because of it. When she had Booth next to her again, she leaned up to wrap her arms around his shoulders, tugging him down to her so she could embrace him, "but I'm glad you're back."

Booth glanced at her skeptically, not completely sure if she was being honest.

"Are you sure he wasn't bothering you?" He asked, barely realizing that she was pressing soft kisses to the side of his neck, "Because he was only in here for a few minutes, and he was looking all gloomy when he came out, and now you're being really affectionate."

"He wasn't actively bothering me, Booth, but I'm mad at him," she pulled her mouth away from his neck to look at him, "I'm mad at both of them. Aren't you?"

"I'm annoyed," he admitted, "more annoyed at Ricky than Angela, but they were both wrong in their own way."

Brennan was surprised to hear this, looking at him curiously.

"Why?" She asked, "It was both of their faults. They were both being inconsiderate and were both trying to tell me how I felt and what I should be doing."

"Yeah, but Angela was looking out for you, Ricky was trying to manipulate you," he saw her roll her eyes, "Bones, I'm not just saying that to be a jerk. Ricky wanted you to go out into the field with him so he was trying to appeal to the independent woman we all know you are. Just when you were starting to realize that maybe rest was good for the baby, he starts trying to convince you that you don't need it."

"Well I do," she murmured, "I know that now."

Booth half smiled and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"Yeah, you do," he agreed, "unless you want to go through this again."

"I don't," she assured him, looking up at him seriously, "I know what Christian and I need now, Booth. And I'm sorry I didn't listen to you earlier."

"No need to apologize," Booth assured her.

Brennan sighed. He was so understanding, and it made her feel like such a terrible person sometimes.

"Are you sure?" She asked, "You aren't angry?"

Booth chuckled and kissed her again.

"No, I'm not," he promised, "I just want to put this in the past."

Brennan nodded in agreement and cupped his face, pulling him down for a slow, gentle kiss, feeling content there, kissing her husband and knowing her baby was going to be okay, Ricky and Angela being the last two people on her mind.


	11. You Are Not Joy Keenan

**A/N: Hello. I was really channeling the Bones cliches during this chapter. I used the "Do you love me? Do you want me to prove it to you?" dialogue, the Poco song, the "I know who you are" from "The Woman in Limbo". I've got it all going in this one. xD This chapter starts out light and then gets a little heavy in the end, but nothing bad. Just a B&B moment that may make you go 'aw'. **

**The song is "Keep on Tryin'" by Poco, incase you never saw "The Killer in the Concrete" (which I assume most of you have)**

**Also, I've gotten a few questions asking how long this story will be, and the truth is that I have no idea. I don't pre-write these. I get these little ideas floating around in my head, and if I don't want to forget it, I'll write it down (I have a few later scenes of this story written out already) but I pretty much write as I go. It wasn't until maybe the last ten chapters of Getting There that I knew how many chapters were going to be left. So, yeah. Pretty much, it's over when I decide it's a good time to end. xD**

Chapter Eleven:

"You Are Not Joy Keenan"

Brennan was laying on her stomach, resting her chin on her arms, the sheets she was under leaving her back exposed for her husband to kiss. She was staring at the headboard as Booth kissed slowly up her back, nuzzling the sensitive spot behind her ear softly when he reached it. When he noticed that she was being particularly unresponsive, he kiss the area gently.

"You thinking about something, Bones?" He asked in a warm voice.

Brennan turned her head to look at him over her shoulder, laughing lightly when he nibbled on her earlobe.

"I've just been thinking about Angela and Ricky," she admitted, resting her cheek back against her forearm when his lips moved back down to her shoulder, "Angela tried to call me today. I hit the ignore button."

Booth rested his chin against the middle of her back when his lips stopped there.

"You're still mad at her?" He asked.

"Yes," Brennan could feel the stubble on his jaw rubbing against the warm skin of her back, "I ignored a call from Ricky yesterday. It's been four days, and I still have no desire to speak with either of them."

"I spoke to Angela yesterday," he told her, turning his head so his cheek could rest where his chin just was, "she feels bad for everything that happened."

"I don't care," she was growing uncomfortable laying on her big stomach, but knew that Booth was comfortable, so she didn't move, "I feel bad that I don't care, but I don't. I'll forgive them, and then they'll start their crap again and I'll go into labor."

"I think you're blowing things a little out of proportion, babe," he laughed lightly.

"Booth, don't call me babe."

"Sorry, sorry," he kissed her back once again, his hand smoothing over her shoulder, "all I'm saying is that maybe you should try to talk to Ange again. She is your best friend after all."

Brennan groaned in frustration, looking at him over her shoulder once again when he started kissing back up to her neck. Her hand subconsciously reached back to touch his hair, her fingers running through it a few times

"What about Ricky?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think you can go a little while longer without talking to Ricky," he joked, kissing the side of her neck softly when he heard her laugh lightly at his comment.

"If I talk to one of them, I'm going to have to talk to both of them," she told him, feeling him attempt to turn her onto her side when he realized she was uncomfortable on her stomach, "it would be unfair of me to forgive Angela and not Ricky."

"Eh," Booth shrugged as she helped him out by turning herself onto her side and wrapping her arms around him once she was facing him, "fairness is overrated."

Brennan leaned forward to kiss him.

"You're always working an angle, Seeley Booth," she smiled.

"Yeah, you know me," he kissed her again once she detached her lips from his, "I'm a sneaky bastard."

Brennan laughed lightly and pressed her forehead to his shoulder, able to feel his hands stroking up and down her back. She purred subconsciously at the touch as she let her mind wander, only able to hear the occasional rustle of sheets and the cars passing by outside.

"Booth?"

"Bones?"

"If you cheated on me..." she paused, feeling his hands stop their constant motion when she spoke the words, "I might be okay with it."

"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked.

"If you ever wanted to sleep with another woman, I would be okay with it" she clarified, "I would be upset and hurt, but I might be able to understand why you did it."

"Again, going back to my 'what the hell are you talking about?' question."

"You give so much of yourself, Booth, and I feel as if I don't give all of it back. If you wanted to sleep with another woman in order to get that little bit that I cannot give to you, I would understand. You're a lover. You may need be with another lover for a night as opposed to being with me, someone who's more of a brain person than a heart person."

"We give and take from each other, Bones, that's what our marriage is all about. We have a symbiotic relationship," his tone was low, and he kissed her head after he spoke, but Brennan could detect a hint of irritation in his voice, "besides, I don't want to sleep with other women."

"I was just saying, if you did..."

"Well I don't."

Brennan looked up at him innocently, unsure as to why he was annoyed all of the sudden. She figured he would appreciate that, but apparently it just made him angry.

"I don't understand why you're mad," she said, softly, looking at his shoulder when she spoke, not wanting to look into his eyes at the moment.

"Because," Booth put his finger under her chin to draw her eyes to his, "I don't want to sleep with other women, Bones. You should know that. It just scares me that we're married and you still doubt how I feel about you."

"I don't doubt anything, Booth," she promised, resting her head against the crook of his neck, her words muffled by his skin, "I just don't want you to feel trapped."

"I am trapped," he laughed, kissing her temple softly, "and I love every second of it."

Brennan smiled and ghosted the pads of her fingers over his stomach, pleased when she felt him shiver. Something about making Special Agent Seeley Booth shiver never failed to make her feel a sense of pride. Before they were together, she'd never imagined that he would become vulnerable from such a simple touch. She had always imagined him being a dominant, always in control, alpha male. One of those men, like Michael, who would never let her feel like she was giving them any pleasure with simple touches and kisses to the neck.

After a few minutes of quiet, her head resting against her husband's shoulder, Brennan finally spoke again.

"Max killed Villeda," she told him, bringing up the subject out of nowhere.

"No he didn't, he was released from jail. That guy confessed, remember?" Booth reminded her, his index finger tracing up and down her spine.

"'That guy', William Ray, he's one of my father's old friends. I don't remember what his criminal 'code name', or whatever they call it was, but I know he was one of them," she explained, looking up at him, "either my father killed Villeda and got William to take the rap for it, or William killed Villeda for my father."

"Or maybe it's a different William Ray."

"You mean maybe it's a coincidence?" Brennan asked, furrowing an eyebrow in confusion, "you're the one who said there are no coincidences in a murder."

"Just let it go," Booth told her, seriously, "Max is out of jail. That's a good thing."

"Maybe it's not," she murmured.

"Bones, please."

"Please what? He's a murderer, Booth."

"According to you," he saw the disapproving look she was giving him, "can you please just relax, baby? You're going to stress yourself out again."

"Don't call me baby."

He knew that she was mad when she turned so her back was to him, pulling the covers up over her arms. Instead of trying to reason with her, since he knew she was in one of those moods where she was not going to listen to anything he had to say, he just kissed her shoulder softly, wrapping his arms around her from behind. She tensed at first, but then relaxed with a sigh.

"I love you," she sighed quietly, after a few minutes of silence, feeling as if she had to reassure him of that now, "I really do love you, Booth. I'm just, stressed out about Max. I don't know why he does these things."

"I know, Bones," he assured her.

Brennan stayed quiet for a minute before she spoke again.

"Do you love me too?" She asked quietly, even though she was already well aware of the answer.

"Do you want me to prove it to you?"

Brennan shook her head, her hair brushing against his chest when she did.

"Not tonight," she said, taking one of his hands to press their palms together, intertwining their fingers, "I'm still sore from earlier."

"Okay," he kissed her shoulder again, keeping their fingers laced together, "are you going to sleep?"

"No, I'm not tired," she shrugged, "I might get up and work on my novel."

Booth let go of her hand and unwrapped his arms from around her waist to give her the freedom to get up.

"Want me to stay awake with you?" He asked.

Brennan shook her head again as she sat up, going to get her robe, which was only a few feet away from their bed.

"You don't have to," she assured him, sitting back on the edge of the bed after she tied her robe around her waist, "you have work in the morning."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Thank you for offering though."

Booth smiled when she leaned down to kiss his head.

"You're welcome," he whispered.

He laughed lightly when she scattered feather light kisses over his face before stopping so she could look at him and caress his cheek gently.

"I love you," she told him, having lost count of how many times she had said the three words that night.

"I love you too," he promised her.

Brennan took her hand off of his cheek, only to replace it with her lips.

"Goodnight, Booth," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair a couple times before she stood up.

"Wait, Bones," he called to her before she could leave the room, his voice sounding meeker when she turned her attention to him, "can you toss me my boxers on your way out? It's kind of creepy to sleep naked when you're alone."

Brennan laughed and opened the drawer to find him a clean pair of boxers, tossing them to him after she found them.

* * *

><p>Brennan hadn't stopped thinking about Max since she spoke to Booth about it the night prior. Even when she was trying to work on her novel, she was having a hard time focusing on her writing. Now she was in the shower, the morning light starting to creep through the blinds in the bathroom as she lathered shampoo into her hair.<p>

Why did Max have to be such a difficult father? Why couldn't he just be a normal father, the way he was when she was growing up? Why couldn't he be the father he was when he would bring her snickerdoodles and play "the trying song" for her? She sighed as the questions raced through her mind, and ducked her head under the water to rinse out the lavender shampoo.

"I've been thinkin' 'bout  
>all the times you told me<br>you're so full of doubt."

She murmured the lyrics slowly and quietly as she finished rinsing and applied her conditioner, working it through the tangles in her hair.

"You just can't let it be  
>But I know<br>if you keep coming back for more  
>Then I'll keep on tryin'.<br>Keep on tryin'.

And I've been drinkin' now  
>just a little too much.<br>And I don't know how..."

"_I can get in touch with you._"

Brennan gasped when she heard her husband's raspy voice in her ear, surprised when he pulled her back against his now wet chest, unaware that he had decided to join her in the shower until she heard him join in on the song with her. She stayed quiet, closing her eyes and listening to his soft voice in her ear as he mumbled the lyrics just as slow as she was.

"Now there's only one thing  
>for me to do, that's to<br>to get home to you."

He reached for her body wash, squirting a little bit into his hands, able to feel her shiver when he smoothed it over her belly, being careful not to apply too much pressure and make her and the baby uncomfortable. She looked down and watched his hands as he washed her only for a few seconds before she closed them again.

"And I feel so satisfied when  
>I can see you smile.<br>I want to confide in  
>all that is true, so I'll<br>keep on tryin', I'm  
>through with lyin'."<p>

Brennan kept her eyes closed, her lips slightly parted as she felt her husband's rough hands working the soap ever so gently into her skin. Only then did she decide to join in the half murmuring half singing with him.

"Just like the sun above  
>I'll come shinin' through."<p>

Booth laughed lightly when her voice joined in with his.

"Oh yes I'll  
>keep on tryin', I'm<br>tired of cryin'.  
>I got to find a way..."<p>

Brennan turned herself around when her belly was rinsed off so she could face him. Booth could see that her eyes were red, as if she was verging on crying, and pulled her close to him, their wet skin sticking together as they both lowered their voices, and her head rested against his shoulder, her last words shaking.

"To get home to you."

Booth rubbed her back gently when her shoulders shook with silent sobs. Even though he wasn't sure what she was crying about, he was willing to just hold her and let her cry on his shoulder. They were married. In his opinion, that's what husbands were for.

"I miss him," she cried, her voice barely audible over the sound of the running water.

"Who?" Booth asked, quietly.

"My father," she responded, in a trembling voice.

"Max? He only lives about a half an hour away. You can go see him today."

Brennan shook her head, her arms locked around him as she held herself against him, feeling slightly comforted by the feel of his body against hers.

"Not Max," she whispered, "Matthew Brennan," she paused, her hot tears that were touching his shoulder blending in with the warm water, "which is foolish, because he never existed. My entire childhood was a lie. Even my own parents."

"Max and Matthew are the same person," he whispered comfortingly, "it wasn't a lie. Max loves you the same exact way that Matthew loved you. He was just using a different name. It doesn't mean that your father, the one that you loved, didn't exist. Every part of your childhood was real, Temperance. I promise you."

Brennan shook her head.

"My name isn't even Temperance," she let out a small sob when he used her given name, "if you want to address me by my first name you should call me Joy."

"Look at me, Bones," he decided to go back to using the name he always called her, not wanting to make her any more upset than she already was, "you are not Joy Keenan. You will never be Joy in my eyes. I met Temperance Brennan, I fell in love with Temperance Brennan, and I married Temperance Brennan. That is who you'll always be. Do you understand?"

Brennan nodded against his shoulder, his words easing the sadness she was feeling at the moment just a little.

"It doesn't matter what your name is," he whispered, kissing her temple softly, "it doesn't matter that you were technically born Joy Keenan. I love you. I love every part of you."

She nodded again, feeling his hands stroke up and down her back before he placed his hands on her hips and gently nudged her backwards, hearing her make a small sound of protest.

"Shh, I'm not leaving," he promised, "just turn around so I can wash your back."

Brennan did as he asked and turned around, sighing lightly when she felt the soap being rubbed into the skin of her back by Booth's strong hands. She had stopped crying, and her shoulders had stopped shaking, but Booth leaned close to her ear to speak quietly to her anyway.

"I know who you are, Bones," he promised her, using the same words he used on the day she found out about all of the secrets of her childhood, even though they now took on a whole different meaning, "I know who you really are."

His words were more powerful that day than they were the first time he said them to her. Then, he was just trying to comfort her, letting her know that everything was going to be okay, and that he knew Temperance Brennan was who she had grown up as, and who she was. Now he knew everything about who she was. He was the man she loved, the only man she would ever open up to, and he knew that.

"Yes," she agreed quietly with his words as her eyes fell back closed, and she embraced the feeling of his hands lathering up her back, "you know who I am. Only you."


	12. You're Full of Yourself, Booth

**A/N: Hello. Sorry that this took a few days to get out to you. I was planning on finishing this chapter last night, but I was so tired that I fell asleep. xD So I just finished this morning instead. **

**Sorry, this one is kind of filler-ish, but Christian is going to be born soon, so hopefully you're all excited about that.**

Chapter Twelve:

"You're Full of Yourself, Booth"

Brennan was sitting in her husband's office chair, twisting herself around as she looked at the picture of the two of them set on his desk. She had to laugh when she looked at it, remembering how happy he was when he realized, now that the FBI knew about their relationship, that he could keep their picture on his desk. He had actually asked Angela to take a picture of them for that purpose only, since they kept their wedding picture, the one he got her for Christmas, next to their bed.

The frame on his desk was turned so it was visible from the chair, making her feel somewhat happy. Maybe he liked to look at them while he was filling out paperwork. Maybe it helped him get through it, since she knew he found it unbearably boring.

"Hey, beautiful," she heard the familiar voice of her husband, giving him a disapproving look when he used the sappy pet name, "what are you doing here?"

"Sitting in the apartment all day is not enjoyable," she told him, smiling when he chuckled, "I'm glad I'm not on bed rest."

"Yeah, good thing, right?" He laughed lightly, "You could barely stay in for a few hours."

Brennan nodded in agreement, looking up at him when he tossed his keys onto the desk in front of her, shrugging himself out of his jacket. She wasn't sure if it was just the hormones, but she felt like he looked better than he usually did that day.

"You look very nice today," she told him.

"Hey, thanks, Bones," he laughed lightly at the compliment, "you look nice today as well."

Brennan smiled when he leaned down to kiss her gently, hearing her rare giggle slip from her lips when he cupped her face between his hands and placed soft kisses over her cheeks, forehead, and jaw, murmuring 'I love you's between kisses.

"Want me to pretend I'm your sexy secretary?" She asked, smiling when he kissed her lips again.

"Last time I suggested that you got mad at me," he laughed lightly, glad to see that she was in a better mood than she was that morning, "you said someone with your credentials would never be a secretary."

"Well, maybe if someone with my credentials was so pregnant that they couldn't do their regular work, they would have to do something simpler, like being a secretary, for example," she smiled flirtatiously up at him, "isn't that right, Mr. Booth?"

"Oh, Ms. Brennan," he laughed lightly, placing his hands on the arms of the chair so he could lean over her, "you should know better than to talk naughty in the workplace. Am I going to have to fire you for incompetence?"

Brennan fake gasped, placing her hands over her heart.

"Oh, no, Mr. Booth, you couldn't," she gasped, looking up at him with a playfully pleading expression, "I really need this job. Is there anything I can do to change your mind?"

Booth smiled and leaned closer, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear before he leaned in to whisper into it.

"I think there's one thing you can do, Ms. Brennan," he whispered in a velvety voice, kissing her ear gently afterwards, "I've been awfully lonely lately."

"Oh?" Brennan had to smile as his lips moved over her ear, kissing ever so softly, "I'm not entirely sure how I can help you with that, sir."

"Maybe you could...I don't know," he ran his tongue gently over the outer shell of her ear, hearing her moan softly in response, "keep me company?"

"Oh, sir," she peeked at him innocently, "I don't know. I haven't been with a man in a long time, and I'm not sure this is appropriate."

"Relax, doll," he nibbled her earlobe gently when he reached it before kissing down the line of her jaw, "no one has to know what goes on between a man and his secretary. Just let me take care of you."

"Oh, Mr. Booth," she sighed in a breathy tone, "that...that feels good."

"Yeah, babe? You like that?"

"Yes. You are a skilled kisser."

"Yeah? What if I kiss you," he paused to press a gentle, open mouthed kiss to one of her sweet spots, "there?"

"That is a good spot," she smiled, running her fingers through his hair, "you are very good at this. You must have had a lot of practice."

Booth chuckled raspily in her ear, his fingers stroking gently down her arm as he continued his trail down her neck, stopping when her shirt prevented him from going any further.

"Ms. Brennan?"

"Yes, Mr. Booth?"

"Would you like me to take you home where I can make love to you in my bed?"

"I believe I would rather be spontaneous and let you make love to me on the floor."

Booth laughed lightly, breaking character.

"Bones, I would, you know we've talked about how many times I've had that fantasy. But we can't. Not while you're pregnant."

"But-"

Her protest was cut short when his phone started to ring. Booth went to go answer it, only to have his hand swatted away so Brennan could pick it up, smiling up at him when she held the phone to her ear.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth's phone," she answered professionally.

"Bren?"

Brennan held the phone away from her ear and rolled her eyes with a small huff, looking at Booth and mouthing 'Ricky' before she spoke.

"Hi, Ricky," she tried her best to cover up the irritation in her voice.

"Hey, you," he laughed, glad to hear his partner's voice for the first time in five days, "how've you been? I haven't seen you in forever."

"Yes, it has been quite some time," she had to bite back the bitter tone in her voice, "but I'm sure you called to speak with Booth and not me. Should I put him on the phone?"

"Actually, Bren, I just wanted to get his permission for you to," he paused, not wanting to upset her again, "come back to work for a little while. No field work, I just need you in the lab examining. I really don't have anyone else to do that for me, and this is one of those victims that we can't ID without you, so..."

His voice trailed off as he waited for a response. In reality, Brennan wanted to go back to working in the lab. She hated staying home, and she had only been doing it for a few days. But she knew that Booth didn't want her at work, and he would probably get frustrated if she asked to go back. She didn't want to start this argument. Not when their anniversary was in just a little more than a week.

"I don't know, Ricky," she said, warily, "maybe I should let you speak with Booth."

"Is he bothering you again?" Booth asked, the irritation clear in his voice, "You want me to talk to him?"

"No, Booth, it's fine," she turned a little when he reached for the phone, putting it out of his reach, "he just wants me to come back to work. Just for this case."

"No, no, no," he reached for the phone again, only to have her pull it away, resorting to just yelling over her shoulder, "Ricky, she's not going back to work. Just get the idea out of your head."

"Booth, stop," Brennan scolded him, before turning her attention back to the man on the other end of the phone, "Ricky, I'd be happy to help you with this case."

"Bones, no, I just said-"

"Booth, enough," she snapped, "you are not my father."

"Baby-"

"Don't call me baby," she cut him off before he could go any further, rolling her eyes and speaking to Ricky again, "I will speak with you a little later. Booth is being difficult but I really don't care what he thinks," she shot her husband a quick dirty look, "just have the body shipped to the Jeffersonian and I'll be there."

She hung up the phone and slammed it into her husband's hand with a harsh expression on her face. He looked at her with intensity as well, even though his was not nearly as anger ridden as hers.

"Bones-"

"Don't," she cut him off, "don't start with me, Booth."

"I'm not starting, Temperance, if you would just calm down and listen to me-"

"I don't have to listen to you, I already know what you're going to say. 'Bones, you shouldn't be working this far into your pregnancy'. I've heard it all before, Booth. I'll be fine, I can take care of myself."

"I'm uncomfortable with it," he told her honestly.

"I know you are," she softened her tone and reached up to touch his cheek gently, feeling bad for snapping at him the way she did, "because you love Christian and I. But I promise you, I'll be fine. I'm going to be in the lab examining, not running around doing field work."

"I know," he placed his hands on her shoulders when hers moved away from his face, "but...what if you go into labor?"

"Then Angela will drive me to the hospital and we can call you so you can come as well," she leaned up to kiss him gently when she saw the uncertainty in his eyes, knowing very well what his fears were, "Booth, I promise you, you will be there when Chris is born."

Booth sighed in defeat, his eyes closing when she kissed him a second time, her lips lingering on his a little bit longer that time.

"Just promise me you won't do anything rash," he requested, "promise me you'll think of Christian before you do anything that could possibly be harmful to either of you."

Brennan nodded, kissing his cheek this time, looking up seriously into his eyes.

"I promise."

Booth cupped her cheek after she kissed his, turning her head so he could touch his lips to hers again, the kiss light and gentle as she hooked her arm around his neck.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"Don't thank me, Booth," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling herself close so she could hug him tightly, "I love you and Christian. I would never do anything to hurt either of you."

"You don't know how much that means to me," he told her, honestly, "it makes me feel a hell of a lot better about you going back to work too."

"It was intended to," she smiled, smoothing her hand down from his shoulder to his elbow before she let go of him, "I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight," he agreed warily, watching her leave and make her way back to the lab, where she hadn't been since the 'almost premature labor incident' occurred.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Bones? Can I feel the baby kick?" Parker asked, as he sat next to his step mother on her couch, startling her when he spoke, pulling her attention away from the email she was checking on her laptop.<p>

It was later that night, and Rebecca had dropped Parker off to spend a few nights with them, even though he now had to sleep on the couch, because the guest room was transformed into Christian's future room.

"You can try, but he's been calm for a while now. I'm not sure if you'll be able to feel anything," she took the little boy's hand and placed it on her stomach for him.

"I don't feel anything," Parker complained, moving his hand to a different part of her stomach to see if he could feel anything in that area, "is he sleeping?"

"Maybe," Brennan shrugged, "fetuses move in their sleep though, so I'm not sure if that actually has anything to do with the fact that he's still."

Booth peeked into the living room area from where he was setting the table in the kitchen, the smell of Chinese take-out filling the small area.

"Parker, leave Bones alone," he told him, for, what had to be, the third time that night, "she's trying to work, and I don't think she wants you touching her stomach."

"It's fine," she assured him, placing her hand over Parker's to see if the added pressure would help him to feel any movement, "he's curious. He wants to feel his little brother move. You are very on edge tonight, Booth. You were in a fine mood when I came to your office before."

"I'm sorry, it's just, after you left I started to have a really crappy day," he explained, "I don't mean to take it out on either of you. I'm sorry, Bones."

"Apologize to Parker, not to me," Brennan shrugged, "you haven't been particularly nice to him tonight. You haven't really done anything wrong to me."

Booth sighed, going over to where the two most important people in his life were sitting, leaning down to smooth his son's blonde curls away from his forehead and kiss it affectionately, seeing him scrunch up his nose in displeasure when he did.

"I'm sorry, bub," he apologized, feeling bad for snapping at Parker more than once that night, "daddy just had a rough day at work."

"It's okay," Parker shrugged, not seeming too concerned about it, "I've seen you get cranky before."

"I'm still sorry," Booth told him, kissing his cheek, hearing a small whine of embarrassment come from his son when he did, "what do you say me and you go to the park tomorrow to play some football?"

"Yeah," Parker agreed with a smile, "can Bones come too?"

"If Bones wants to come," he looked at his wife, awaiting her answer.

"I won't be able to play football, but I will certainly join you at the park," she smiled when she saw her husband's son's eyes light up.

"Bones will be rooting for me," Parker told his father, with a cocky smirk, one that was nearly identical to Booth's.

Booth laughed in response.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes," Brennan confirmed, a small, playful smile on her face as well, "I will, in fact, be rooting for Parker. You're full of yourself, Booth. Someone needs to place you in your spot."

"'_Put_ you in your _place_', Bones." He corrected her, having to sigh and shake his head at her attempt to use figurative language, "it's not...you know, never mind. Who's hungry?"

"I'm starving," Parker put in his two cents, standing up from where he was sitting on the couch so he could trot into the kitchen, taking his seat at the table.

Booth held out his hand to help his wife off of the couch, always noticing how she grumbled and looked just slightly embarrassed when she needed help standing. She was so sick of being pregnant, and she didn't think she could stress that to anyone enough. When she would tell everyone she was sick of being pregnant, it sounded like the biggest understatement in the world to her.

"I'm sorry to you too, Bones," Booth whispered, once she was standing in front of him, keeping their conversation between them.

"I told you, you didn't do anything to me. You have nothing to apologize for," she shrugged.

"I snapped at you in my office before when you were on the phone with Ricky," he reminded her, "I wasn't mad at you, I was just mad at the whole situation. I promise you, this isn't just me being possessive. I honestly worry about you and the baby. The two of you are so important to me, and if anything were to happen to either of you-"

"I know, Booth, I understand," she assured him quietly, understanding where he was coming from, since she felt the same way about him and the baby, "but I promise, I will be very careful. Christian is my top priority. If anything starts to feel strange, or if something feels like it isn't quite right, I'll leave and come back here to rest."

"Okay," Booth wanted to trust that she would, but had a hard time believing that this stubborn, hard-working woman would actually leave work in the middle of a case in order to rest.

Brennan smiled thankfully, leaning up to kiss him softly. She wanted to thank him for trusting her, but found that she didn't want to take her lips off of his long enough to say it at the moment, so instead, she just pressed her palm to his cheek.

"Hey," Parker's voice startled both of them, causing them to pull away from each other, "get a room."

Booth couldn't help but laugh at his son's statement, pressing his hand to the small of his wife's back to lead her into the kitchen where they could sit and have a family dinner. He, his wife, and his two sons.


	13. Is There Anything You Want to Ask Me?

**A/N: Hiya. I got a chapter out two days in a row again. This chapter is just fluff, so enjoy. =]**

**Also, there is going to be a period of time this month where I won't post for a while, because I am going to Ireland for a week. =D I'm actually very excited, since it is the first time I'm traveling out of the U.S. (other than Mexico). But I just wanted to let you know so when that week comes, you don't all think I just abandon you. xD**

Chapter Thirteen:

"Is There Anything You Want to Ask Me?"

"You let him score," Brennan observed, as she stood up from the little picnic table at the park and brushed a bit of dirt off of her husband's shirt, "you were not running at full speed. I myself have seen you run much faster than that."

"Of course I let him score, he's my son. That's what I'm supposed to do," he glanced down at the sleeve of his t-shirt where Brennan had just cleaned him off, "what kind of parent doesn't let their kid win?"

"Max never let me win at anything," she told him, as he looked over his wife's shoulder to make sure Parker was okay going to get the ball by himself, "he said it's the reason I am so good at what I do now. He believes if he let me win at petty things that I would expect things to be handed to me as an adult."

"No offence, Bones, but do you really want me to be taking parenting advice from Max?"

"He was a good father up until I was fifteen."

"Yeah, I think once you abandon your children your kind of out of the running for Father of the Year," he laughed lightly, peering over her shoulder again when she placed her hands on his, "what is he doing?"

Brennan looked behind her to see Parker going much further than he needed to.

"I don't know. Maybe you want to go check," she told him honestly, letting go of his shoulders so he could go jog to catch up with his son.

Booth quickly caught up with Parker, who was wandering around aimlessly looking for the football, which he had passed some time ago.

"Buddy? What are you doing?" He asked, seeing the little boy turn to face him.

"I can't find our ball anywhere, and I've been looking this whole time," he complained.

Booth stepped behind him and grasped his shoulder gently, turning him to face the opposite directions. When Parker saw the ball, lying there in plain sight, he laughed.

"Oh," he said, shyly, "I knew that."

Booth chuckled and ruffled his blonde curls.

"Come on, I'll race you to it," he challenged.

"Okay!" Parker agreed, taking off to sprint the short distance to the ball.

Booth chased after him, barely running at half-speed, allowing his son to get there first. Parker scooped the ball up into his arms and shouted something about being 'so much faster' than his father, causing Brennan to laugh lightly as she watched them from afar. Booth was such a good father, and she could never understand why Rebecca didn't give him more parental rights. She knew that even if something happened between she and Booth, and they were no longer together, he would still be able to see Christian as often as he would like. She would never deny that man time with his child.

"I'm such a better runner than you," Parker taunted his father cutely when he caught up with him, putting on a show, acting as if he was trying to catch his breath from exerting himself, "let's race back to Bones so I can kick your butt again."

"No, no more racing, I'm out of breath," Booth laughed lightly.

He really wasn't out of breath at all. He just wanted to have a discussion with his son while they went over to meet back up with Brennan. After only a few seconds of walking in silence, Booth spoke again.

"Parker? Is there anything you want to ask me?"

Parker glanced up at him as they walked, not understanding what he was getting at.

"About what?" He asked.

"About the baby, or about Bones and I. Is there anything you're curious about, or don't understand? Because I want you to know you can ask me anything."

"I do have a question about the my little brother," Parker told him.

"Okay, shoot."

"When Christian is born, are you still going to want to play with me?"

Booth was starting to get the feeling his son was fearing that once the baby was born he wasn't going to love him as much. When he first told him about the baby, he was overjoyed and excited, but recently, he hadn't seemed as interested. Sure, he wanted to feel the baby move the night prior, but on a whole, he didn't seem as thrilled at the idea of having a little brother as he did when he first found out.

"Of course, bub," Booth assured him, "I'll be busy, because, you know, babies need a lot of attention because they can't do anything on their own, but I'm still going to love you, and want to spend time with you, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded, "I just thought that maybe you wouldn't want to spend as much time with me because you love Bones and not mom."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I thought maybe you would like Bones' baby better than mom's kid because you like her more. What if once the baby is born you don't like me anymore?"

"Parker, I would never stop liking you. You're both my kids and I'm going to love you both the same," Booth promised, "but you have to promise me that if you start to feel ignored, or like I don't want to spend time with you anymore, you'll tell me. Because I don't want you to think that I like the baby better than you because he'll be taking up a lot of my time for a while."

"I will," Parker assured him, "I'll tell you," he paused for a few seconds before he asked his next question, "are you still going to coach my little league team, or will you be too busy?"

"I always coach your team, that's not gonna change," he nudged him gently with his elbow, "by the time baseball season starts Chris will be a few months old. Maybe Bones can bring him to a few games, but even if she doesn't, that's something we do together. Like I said, things are going to be the same with us, alright? I promise."

"Okay," he nodded again, feeling slightly more reassured, "and I have one more question."

"Go ahead."

"Are you and Bones going to stay together forever?"

Booth laughed lightly.

"I'd like to hope so," he told him, "I mean, we _are_ married. Why are you asking?"

"Because you've had some other girlfriends who I liked, and then you broke up with them, like Doctor Saroyan," Parker explained, "I really like Bones, and I don't want you to break up with her too."

"Bones and I aren't going to break up," he promised, "we love each other."

"But didn't you love mom too? And Doctor Saroyan?"

"Not in the same way," he shook his head, finding this difficult to explain to his seven year old son, "not the way I love Bones. It's different with us. And, I loved your mother, but I don't think she loved me back. Not the same way I loved her at least."

"But you had me," Parker reminded him, "and you can only have a baby with someone if you love each other. Because only people that love each other sex each other up."

Booth had to laugh at his son's limited knowledge on the subject.

"Yeah, you're right," he didn't want to correct his son's view on sex, "you're right, buddy. I guess she did love me."

He was glad that they reached his wife at that point, since he was not looking forward to continuing that conversation.

"Bones! Did you see me score before?" Parker asked her frantically.

"I sure did," Brennan responded, "you're quick."

"I'm so much faster than dad," he bragged, looking up to see Booth smile and roll his eyes, "it's because he's old."

"Hey, hey, watch it," he laughed, "I am not that old."

"He's right, Parker, he isn't that old," Brennan told him, "and even though he isn't necessarily 'old', he has incredible stamina for a man his age."

Booth blushed involuntarily when she looked at him suggestively.

"What's that mean?" Parker asked curiously.

"It means he can keep up," Brennan patted her husband's shoulder affectionately, amused by how mortifying he found this.

"With who?"

"With me."

"So you have good stamina too?"

"I believe I do," she laughed lightly, "not so much anymore, since I have the baby, but for the most part I think I do. Your father would probably know better than I would though."

"Wow, okay, how about we go get lunch?" Booth spoke up before Parker could ask him the question he knew was about to come

"Okay," Parker agreed.

Children were so easy to get off topic.

"Okay? Good," Booth took Brennan's hand when Parker hopped in front of them, leading them to the car.

Brennan was slightly surprised by the gesture. She and Booth were married, but they had never been big on holding hands; not in public at least. Both of them found it to be more of a 'look at us, we're a couple' type gesture than an actual affectionate gesture. Showing off their relationship to everyone around them was never what they were about. But, that day, Brennan knew he wasn't holding her hand to let everyone in the park know that she was his, but because he just wanted to feel her hand clutching onto his as they walked with Parker. She was also grateful that Booth was being so patient, keeping his pace slower than usual so Brennan could keep up with him while she was big and nearly waddling.

"Can we go to the diner?" Parker asked, turning to look at them over his shoulder, "I want to get a huge hamburger and fries. And a milkshake."

"We'll go wherever you want," Booth told him, looking over at his wife and giving her hand a gentle squeeze, seeing the way she smiled when he did, causing him to smile as well.

Brennan leaned over and kissed his cheek as they walked, seeing him look over to her afterwards, a big, genuine smile on his face.

* * *

><p>Brennan smiled in her half asleep state when she heard the door to her bedroom open and shut, feeling her husband slip into bed with her. She turned over onto her side to face him when she felt his fingers stroke over her back.<p>

"Hi," she murmured, purring subconsciously when his hand stroked her cheek.

Instead of responding, he leaned in to kiss her, his lips easily finding hers, waiting for them to part. After a minute of the kiss, he pulled away, kissing her forehead softly.

"Where's Parker?" She asked.

"Sleeping," he told her, "I tucked him in and gave him a glass of water and the TV remote incase he can't sleep, so he should be good until morning."

"Good, now you're mine for the rest of the night," she smiled, kissing him again.

He kissed her back, but was lacking the passion. Brennan didn't notice until she straddled him carefully, taking his face between her hands, realizing that he seemed more like he was kissing her because he had to rather than because he wanted to.

"Is something wrong?" She finally asked, disconnecting their lips, but keeping her hands on his face.

"No," Booth told her honestly, reaching up to run his hands over her forearms, "I mean...no, nothing's wrong. I've just been thinking about some stuff, that's all."

Brennan frowned, kissing the bridge of his nose softly.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Parker doesn't think I'm going to love him anymore once the baby is born."

Brennan was surprised when she heard the words.

"Did he say that?" She asked.

"No," Booth told her, "but I asked him if he had any questions about the baby, and he asked me if I would still want to spend time with him once the baby is born," he paused, looking up at her with concerned eyes, "does he think I don't love him or something?"

"No, of course not," Brennan assured him, leaning down to kiss him tenderly, attempting to wash away the fears he was having, "Booth, you're an excellent father, and Parker loves you."

"Then why does he think I'm not going to care about him once we have Chris?"

"It's normal, Booth," she promised, "it's normal for a child to feel somewhat jealous of a younger sibling, or maybe fear that they aren't going to get as much attention once they have a younger sibling. Once Chris is born, Parker may even start acting out, but that doesn't mean that he thinks you don't love him. He's just not used to having to share you, that's all."

"Are you sure?" He asked, unsurely.

"Parker has been your only son for seven years. He just needs to adjust to the fact that he needs to share your attention now."

Booth half smiled, moving one hand from her forearm to her waist, stroking her side affectionately.

"Okay," he laughed lightly, "you're the genius."

"I am quite smart," she agreed.

"Alright, let's not get carried away," he smiled, moving his hand to her stomach to try to feel the baby move.

He kept his hand there for a little while, waiting for Christian to kick.

"Ow!" Brennan yelped, causing her husband to jump, looking at her with alarmed eyes.

"What? Are you in labor? Did your water break?" He asked frantically, sitting up as much as he could with her straddling his waist, ready to drive her to the hospital.

"No, Christian is just being very relentless," she placed her hand over his, a small frown on her face, "he's been rolling around and kicking all day. And he's not doing it gently either."

"That means he's healthy," Booth told her, gently nudging her off of him so he could turn her onto her back, moving himself down so he could press his cheek against her stomach, "be gentle with mama, Chris," he kissed her stomach softly, "you're hurting her."

"Yes, he's been kicking very hard lately," she told him, running her fingers through his hair, "and it does hurt. I looked it up to make sure that painful kicking was normal, and according to the internet, it is."

"Good to know," Booth told her, peppering kisses against her fabric covered stomach.

Brennan sighed peacefully and laid her head against the pillow, closing her eyes. For, what may have been, the first time that day, the baby seemed to relax.

"He likes you, Booth," she whispered, her fingers never stopping the constant motion through his thick hair, "he stopped kicking when you started talking to him. He must find your voice soothing."

"Yeah, well, I have that effect on people," he laughed lightly, looking up at her to see her blue eyes roll to the ceiling, "are you tired?"

"Yes," she told him, "I'm pregnant. I'm always tired."

Booth laughed, his fingers running over her stomach.

"Go to sleep then," he told her softly, "I've got Chris to keep me company."

"You cannot hold a conversation with Chris," she reminded him.

"It doesn't matter," he laughed, "I can talk to him."

"If you say so."

When she closed her eyes, she could hear her husband murmuring softly to the baby, only hearing a few words every now and then, hearing her name a few times as he spoke to their son. She was curious as to what he was talking about, but was too tired to ask, just letting him speak to the baby, who couldn't respond, as she fell asleep.


	14. We're Compatible

**A/N: Hello. =] So I'm going to try to post as much as I can before I go to Ireland, but I have to prepare for finals and stuff too, so I'm not really sure how that's going to work out. These next few chapters might be kind of short, since I want to split them up (but maybe they won't be, 'cause I haven't started writing them yet xD) so I'm just telling you all in advanced.**

**And by the way, we're jumping ahead a little in this chapter (like a week) so don't get confused. ;]**

Chapter Fourteen:

"We're Compatible"

Brennan was brought into consciousness when she felt soft kisses being pressed over her face, causing her to purr subconsciously as her eyes fluttered open, her husband's dark brown eyes being the first thing she saw that morning.

"Good morning," she rasped blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

"Good morning," he whispered back, kissing her cheekbone softly.

"Happy anniversary," they spoke simultaneously.

Booth smiled when he heard the words come from her mouth at the same time they came from his. Even as she was just waking up, she remembered that it had been one year since their relationship became serious. They had been together before February fourteenth of the year prior, but it was just casual then. It was Valentines Day when things actually became serious between them, so that was the day they considered to be their anniversary.

"You remembered," he smiled, kissing her lips softly before moving to the line of her jaw.

"Of course I remembered," she laughed lightly, closing her eyes as he kissed over her skin, "we were just talking about it last night, and even if we weren't, this is an important date."

"Yes, it is," he agreed, nipping the skin of her neck, hearing her whimper softly, "I just wish we didn't have to go to work today."

"Hmm," Brennan agreed, pressing her palm against the back of his head to keep him close as she looked over at the clock, "we have to leave soon. I have to-"

"Stop," he cut her off, pressing a finger to her lips, "I am going to make love to you, and we are going to go into work late, okay?"

Brennan bit her lip for a short few seconds before his lips descended onto hers, kissing her passionately. She simply nodded as she held his lips against hers, slipping her tongue into his mouth. Normally she wasn't the biggest fan of morning sex, since she was too tired and it was too early, but it was their anniversary, and the only thing she wanted at the moment was him.

"I love you," she mumbled against his lips, repeating the words softly as they continued to kiss wetly, "I love you. I love you. I love you."

"I love you too," he assured her, sliding his lips off of hers to kiss her neck.

Brennan moaned softly tilting her head up to give him more space as his hands moved to slip her shirt over her head, feeling hers move to do the same for him. Once their shirts were gone, Brennan pushed him gently onto his back, taking her turn at kissing from his neck to his shoulders in soft, open-mouthed kisses. She smiled when he groaned softly, and she reached up to caress the line of his jaw with the tips of her fingers.

"You're being very gentle today," he observed, as she kissed his chest softly, working her way slowly downwards.

"I'm making love to you," she explained, her voice a mumble against his skin as she kissed to his abdomen, running her tongue experimentally over his skin to feel his muscles tense up where her mouth was.

Booth lifted his hips just slightly to help her when she tugged on his sweat pants, starting to drag them down. He allowed her to rid him of the pants before he tugged her back up to him after she pressed her mouth back to his stomach.

"No, you're not making love to me," he whispered, pulling her back up so they were face to face once again, seeing the look of confusion wash over her face, "we're making love _with_ each other."

Brennan smiled and kissed his lips softly.

"That would be acceptable too," she laughed lightly, looking down at her pregnant belly between them, which was limiting their contact with one another, "I'm looking forward to being thin again so we can make love the way we used to."

Booth laughed and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear when it fell in front of one of her eyes.

"So the only reason you want to have this baby is so we can make love again the way we used to?" He asked, an amused smile on his face.

"No," Brennan laughed as well, feeling his hands slide down her waist so he could start to work the fabric of her sweat pants down her legs as well, "but it will be one of the many good things that will come with finally having the baby."

"Well, in that case, I agree," he laughed lightly, "don't get me wrong, your baby weight is cute, but it kind of makes the whole making love thing a bit of an ordeal."

"I don't find it cute at all, I find it unattractive and inconvenient."

"Well it'll be gone in two weeks."

"No, Christian will, if he isn't late, be born in two weeks. It will still take some time to lose all of the weight I put on during the pregnancy."

"Oh, please, do you have to correct everything I say?"

"If it's wrong."

Booth closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, running his hands over her back.

"How about we just make love before we start to bicker?" He suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," she agreed, with a small laugh, pressing her lips back to his.

* * *

><p>Brennan felt stupid, which was something she didn't feel very often. She felt stupid just staring at her husband with a satisfied smile on her face, her chest heaving with uneven breaths as her heart pounded against her skin.<p>

"Why are we so good at that?" She asked.

"We're compatible," he reminded her of the little fact, kissing her ear softly, pulling her earlobe into his mouth.

She gasped and laughed softly at the sensation.

"Booth, I would love to go again, but we're going to be very late. And I don't want Angela giving me the 'I know what you know' look all day."

"Babe, it's our anniversary. We shouldn't even be working in the first place," he reminded her, tracing his tongue gently up the shell of her ear.

"I know you want to spend time together today, but we have work to do," her voice was apologetic as she stroked his hair, "we still have tonight."

"Damn right we still have tonight," he chuckled raspily in her ear, "we have dinner reservations for seven thirty. I know it's late, but I figured that would be about the time we'd both be getting home."

"Seven thirty is fine," she assured him, "closing her eyes, her words muffled by his lips when she spoke again, "as long as it leave time for us to have a little fun afterwards."

"Fun?" Booth took his lips away from hers, looking at her with a semi-seductive smile, "what kind of fun, Ms. Brennan?"

"The best kind," her smile was just as flirtatious as his.

Booth went to go kiss her again, only to be blocked by her hand.

"We can't go through this again," she laughed lightly, "I'm already an hour late."

"Then be two hours late," he swept his thumb over her cheekbone, wishing that she would just go along with him and spend time with him on their anniversary, and Valentine's Day, like any normal couple would, "come on, Bones. Let me make you breakfast in bed."

"I can't be two hours late, Booth, I'm helping Ricky with a murder," she kissed him softly and apologetically, "and I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat something before you go."

"I'll stop at the dinner and grab something to-go on the way to the lab."

When she went to sit up, Booth pressed his hand against her shoulder, keeping her down.

"I'll go get you something," he could hear her huff when he pulled his boxers and pants back over his hips so he could go to the kitchen, "don't move."

Brennan settled onto her back and closed her eyes in frustration, seeing that he wasn't going to listen and just waited for him to return. It was only a few minutes before he was back, and she opened her eyes to see him carrying a bowl for her. She sat up, pulling the covers over her chest when she did, smiling involuntarily when her husband joined her in back in bed.

"See? It's just a few strawberries, no need to get all wound up," he smiled charmingly, taking one out of the bowl, "open up."

"You don't have to feed me," she protested, crossing her arms over her chest, "I am perfectly capable of eating on my own."

"Shh," Booth wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tugged her closer, not saying anything to explain to her why she should allow him to feed her, just holding the strawberry to her lips.

Deciding not to be difficult, she simply bit into the fruit, feeling his hand move under her chin to catch any juice that dripped, making sure it didn't hit the white sheets. Brennan came to realize that eating strawberries with her lover was not as sexy as movies and television made it seem. The juice had dribbled onto her chin after she bit into it, causing her to feel sticky and sloppy even after her husband kissed the pink liquid away.

"This isn't very clean," she told him, "maybe you should have chosen grapes."

"Maybe you should not tell me what to do," he smiled, letting her know that his words were playful, taking the half eaten strawberry away from her mouth.

He glanced at the hair tie around her wrist.

"Put your hair up, babe."

"Why?" She didn't even complain about him calling her babe, since it was their anniversary after all, deciding to let him call her what he pleased that day.

"Because."

"That is not an acceptable answer."

"Please, just do it."

Brennan tugged the hair tie off her wrist and threw her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head.

"Now close your eyes," he directed her.

Brennan wanted to ask him why again, but knew she was not going to receive an legitimate response, so instead, she just did as he asked and let her eyes flutter closed. She gasped when she felt something cold against her neck, only realizing that it was the half eaten strawberry when she took a minute to process it.

"Don't open them," he told her, knowing, by the sound of her gasp, that her eyes were about to pop open.

She obeyed and swallowed the lump in her throat, trembling when she felt him lick the juice off of the side of her neck, covering in skin in tender kisses after it was all gone.

"Please, Booth, I don't have time for a shower before work," her voice was weak when she tried to object, receiving only the response of him repeating the process to her collar bone, "and now I'm all sticky."

After he decided he had enough fun with her, Booth fed her the rest of the first strawberry, getting out of bed afterwards, leaving her alone in bed with her bowl. Brennan's face looked a combination of surprised and disappointed when she felt the lack of presence next to her and opened her eyes.

"Don't give me that look now," Booth laughed, "after all your whining and protesting, don't even pretend you want me to come back."

Brennan popped a second strawberry into her mouth, deciding that she would finish her breakfast with or without him.

"Well this hardly seems fair," she shrugged, "don't I get to drink fruit juice off of you?"

"Later," he promised, with a small smile, "like you said, we have to go to work."

Brennan rolled her eyes playfully as she pulled her sheet higher up.

"I think we may have time to shower together," she smiled.

"Oh?" Booth laughed, mocking surprise, "What happened to not having time to shower at all, let alone together?"

"I believe we can make time," her smile was mischievous as she wrapped herself in the sheet and got out of bed, stepping in front of her husband to kiss his lips softly, "happy anniversary, Booth."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Bones," he responded, kissing her as well, before taking her hand and leading her to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>"Those are pretty," Angela commented, as she entered her friend's office after knocking a couple times, referring to the flowers on her desk, "Valentine's Day flowers from Handsome?"<p>

Angela and Brennan had only been on speaking terms again for almost a week, so they were still in that awkward 'just getting over a fight' phase, which made Angela feel like she was walking on egg shells with everything she said.

"Yes," Brennan responded, moving the flowers off to the side of her desk, "Booth gets a little carried away at times. The other bouquet is on the little table over there."

"There's two?"

"One for Valentine's Day and one for our anniversary."

"Aw," Angela gushed, "I forgot it was your anniversary today. Wow, a combination of the two. Can you say extremely hot sex?"

"We already made love this morning, which actually left me very tired and unable to concentrate on my work," Brennan couldn't help but to toss her little complaint in there.

"Don't pretend you care."

"I don't care. The sex was," she paused, having to laugh a small laugh, "the sex was spectacular. Like...really incredible," she cleared her throat when she realized she was being a little less than discreet, "but I'm drained now."

"Well then take a nap because Booth's going to want more later," Angela warned her, "and you probably will too, considering the way you're raving about it."

"I probably should have been a little more discreet."

"You think? You practically gave me a play-by-play."

"Now you're just exaggerating."

"Maybe a little bit, but not by that much," Angela paused, sighing and leaning against Brennan's desk, "and at least you don't have to go to the banquet this year, being nine months pregnant and all. Hodgins and I still have to go."

"The perks of being pregnant," Brennan joked, "if I wasn't, I know Booth would force me to go like he did last year."

"Well it worked out for you guys," she shrugged, "it was after the banquet that you two got serious and finally admitted to each other that you were more than just a fling."

"I guess," Brennan shrugged, "but I am still not big on events."

"You know, it seems like events are the only times you two can admit to anything," Angela observed, "it was the Valentine's Day banquet last year when you two admitted you wanted to be in a serious relationship, then my wedding was when you finally admitted that you wanted to marry Booth-"

"I didn't _admit_ I wanted to marry Booth after your wedding, I _decided_. I did not want to marry Booth before that," Brennan told her quickly.

"Whatever. Tomato, tomahto."

"No, not tomato, tomahto. They are two completely different things."

Angela went to respond, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Brennan called to the person outside, glancing at Angela to make sure she wasn't going to say anything she would regret when Ricky entered the room.

"Hey ladies," he greeted them warmly, handing each of them a small, white rose, "happy Valentine's Day."

"Thank you, Ricky," Brennan smiled, hearing Angela say a half-hearted 'thank you' as well, "even though I'm a little disappointed that Angela's is bigger than mine."

"It isn't the size that matters, Bren," he laughed lightly, as Brennan set the rose on her desk next to her flowers from Booth, "sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but I just wanted to know if you've found anything on the victim."

"No, not yet," she told him, "I feel like the missing sternum could be what I need to find more evidence. There's nothing on the rest of the body, so cause of death must have something to do with the sternum, but I can't determine that without it."

Ricky huffed, not at her, but at the situation.

"Alright, then I'm off," he told her, with a small wave to both women.

"Where are you going?" Brennan asked.

"To find that damn sternum in the woods."

When he went to leave again, Brennan grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Wait," he stopped and looked at her when she spoke, seeing her grab her jacket from the back of her couch, "I'm coming with you."


	15. You Know I'm Always Looking Out For You

**A/N: Okay, so I worked hard to get this one out to you, because I'm going to a concert with my friend tomorrow so I won't be able to post. So, enjoy. =]**

Chapter Fifteen:

"You Know I'm Always Looking Out For You"

"Brennan, I know I promised I wouldn't intervene anymore, but you have got to be kidding me," Angela stepped in, "you are giving birth in two weeks. Do you really think you should be running around the woods looking for body parts? Have you completely lost every ounce of common sense you posses?"

"Ange, if you want to try to convince me not to help Ricky, you might want to try not insulting me while doing so," she said, as she worked her jacket over her shoulders, "I'm not going to be 'running around the woods'. We're looking for one bone, and Ricky will be with me. I still have two weeks until I'm due. Nothing will happen."

"Sweetie, if Booth knew about this, his head would explode," Angela told her, "I'm sorry for insulting you, but can you just...take a minute to think about your family before you go out and do anything rash?"

"I don't see how this is rash. Ricky will be with me. It's not like I'm going out into the woods by myself. Worse case scenario, I'll have Ricky there if anything happens."

Angela huffed and placed her hands on her hips. She wanted to tell Brennan she was being an idiot, and that nothing good could come out of this, but she knew being harsh with her was definitely the wrong approach. So she simply gave up. Brennan would do what she wanted to do, and there was nothing she could do to change that. Besides, she was kind of right. She still had two more weeks before she was due, so she would, more than likely, be fine.

"So can I go now? Or are you going to yell at me for a little while longer?"

"Do what you want," Angela told her, not having the strength to argue with her any longer, "but, honestly, if anything feels wrong, call me or Booth."

"I will," Brennan promised, pulling her into a friendly hug after she spoke, "thank you for caring, Angela. I know I get angry that you are protective, but you're only doing it because you care. You and Booth share a lot of the same qualities."

"Well I take that as a compliment," she laughed lightly, "be careful."

"I will, I promise," she let go of her, giving her a warm smile before looking back at Ricky, who was standing patiently by the door, waiting for her, "come on, Ricky."

* * *

><p>"Why is there no one else here? Shouldn't we have some sort of FBI forensics team or something here?" Brennan asked, stepping over a couple of branches as she walked with her partner, making their way into the woods.<p>

"Because Cullen kind of told me that I'm not allowed to go out here and look for the bone, so I have to do it on my own," he explained, "the FBI won't back us on this, but if we find the sternum and are able to determine cause of death because of it, they'll be grateful."

"Or you could get fired," Brennan stopped walking and turned to face him, looking at him seriously, "Ricky, you shouldn't be doing this. I could go back and look at the pieces we have again, even though I'm sure my findings are sound. I don't want you to get in trouble for this."

"Could you stop worrying, Bren? I'm not going to get fired," he laughed, taking a hold of her shoulders gently, "when Cullen finds out, he might chew me out a little, but he won't fire me. I'm pretty valuable, if I do say so myself."

"Oh please, don't you start getting an ego now," she laughed, "I get enough of that from my husband. You're a good, humble man. Stay that way."

"Well I figured I'd give the cocky thing a try since you seem to like that," Brennan smiled and rolled her eyes playfully at the words, "I mean, you're married to a guy who's belt buckle actually _says_ it, so I figured you were into that sort of thing."

"I'm not. Booth is an exception."

"Good to know."

He let go of her shoulders, allowing her to continue on walking into the woods, the vegetation growing more abundant the deeper into the woods they went. Brennan found herself moving branches out of her way as she walked, stepping over piles of brush and leaves.

"Alright, Bren, we're getting pretty far in now," Ricky told her, seeing her looking down to make sure she didn't step on any kind of wildlife, "these woods are pretty big, so stay close."

"I can take care of myself," she reminded him, "I'm a fully functional adult. You don't have to worry about me getting lost in the woods," she rolled her eyes as she continued to walk, "would you like to hold my hand while we walk too? Just to make sure?"

"Maybe I should, because it seems like you aren't taking this seriously at all," his tone was scolding, "maybe I shouldn't have brought you out here."

"Stop treating me like a child, now you're acting like everyone else," she was growing frustrated with everyone acting like she was some sort of invalid, "you were the only person I could spend time with without feeling incompetent, but now you're turning into one of them. Can't you just trust that I know what I'm doing?"

"I believe you, I just don't want you or your baby to get hurt. If anything happened to either of you, not only would I never be able to forgive myself, but your husband would probably strangle me with his bare hands."

"You're probably right, he probably would, but you don't have to worry about that because nothing is going to happen to me or the baby."

There was a long pause between them, the silence feeling awkward to Ricky as he looked at her. Brennan had placed her hands on her hips, waiting for him to respond.

"Alright," he finally said, allowing her to have her own freedom, "do you want to look together or do you want to go by yourself?"

He didn't feel comfortable letting her go off to look for the bone alone, since then he wouldn't be there incase anything went wrong, but he didn't want to make her feel incompetent, since she was making it very clear that everyone was making her feel smothered lately.

"I want to go together," she told him, knowing better than to wander off into the woods by herself, "it would be better if we traveled together."

"I agree," he told her, stepping over a pile of leaves so he could start walking east, "we'll look over here first. We'll start east and then maybe turn a few times into different directions if we don't find anything."

"Okay," she agreed, following close behind.

They stopped talking for a while as they walked, dead leaves crunching under their feet as they made their way through the woods, starting from the spot where the majority of the body was found, figuring the sternum wouldn't be too far away.

"You know, I should really be spending time with Booth," she told him, out of the blue, as they pushed through a few overgrown tree branches.

"Because it's Valentine's Day?" Ricky asked, with a small laugh, "No offence, Bren, but I never had you pegged as the kind of woman who really cared all that much about Valentine's Day. I figured you were one of the 'it's a made up holiday' people."

"I am not a big fan of Valentine's Day," she confirmed his suspicions, "I don't hate it like some people do, but it is, in fact, a made up holiday, created by greeting card companies," she glanced over at him to see the look of confusion on his face after she spoke, "Valentine's Day is not the reason I should be spending time with Booth. It's our anniversary today."

"Oh, wow," Ricky said, sounding surprised by the fact, "you guys have been married for a year?"

"No, no," Brennan laughed lightly, "we've been together for a year. We've only been married for a few months."

"You've only been together for a year?" He asked, seeing her nod in confirmation, "Well you two certainly didn't waste any time before you tied the knot and started multiplying."

Brennan couldn't help but feel slightly offended by his words.

"I love Christian, but he was a mistake. We weren't trying to move that fast in our relationship. It just kind of happened."

"I didn't mean to offend you, I was just kidding," Ricky's smile faded when he saw that he may have hurt her feelings with the playful comment, "it happens, Bren. People get pregnant accidentally all the time. All those different forms of birth control aren't always effective."

"We weren't using any form of birth control."

"Oh..."

Brennan huffed and rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Well now that you think I'm an idiot, I guess I'm going to have to explain this to you," she started, her voice having the slightest hint of irritation to it, "I was on birth control when Booth and I first initiated a relationship. About two months after Booth and I started dating I was abducted by a gang leader who kept me locked in his basement for almost five days and physically abused me multiple times a day. After Booth and Sully found me, I was traumatized, badly. I used to wake up from panic attacks in the middle of the night, I was haunted by these horrible nightmares, and I began to associate physical contact with negative things, so I was afraid of being intimate with Booth, and he was very patient and understanding about it. But, taking my birth control pills was the last thing on my mind when I was traumatized, especially since I wasn't sexually active. About two months after the incident Booth and I went to Colorado on vacation, because he thought we both needed to get away, and we made love for the first time since the abduction during a blizzard. Christian was conceived at some point in Colorado, but I'm not really sure when, because we were very sexually active there."

There was a long pause after her story, and she stopped walking, waiting for a response. She chose not to share the part about Villeda convincing her that Booth was dead, and that she was never going to be saved, because, out of all of that, that was the part that she did not want to relive at the moment.

"I'm...I'm sorry," was all Ricky could manage at the moment, "I had no idea."

"I don't normally talk about it. Even Booth and I like to pretend none of it happened. It was not a very happy time in our relationship."

"I understand," he told her, "and I'm sorry if you thought I thought you were an idiot for getting pregnant, because I didn't. Like I said, it happens. And what happened with you and Booth in Colorado was spur of the moment. You weren't prepared for it."

"Yes, but we made love several times after that and several times when we came back to D.C., all unprotected, before I found out I was pregnant," she told him, "I'm an intelligent, grown woman and I never told him I stopped taking birth control. It just, slipped my mind, and I should have known better than to let something like that just 'slip my mind'."

"Yeah, maybe, but now you have Christian, and that's a good thing," he reminded her, "everything happens for a reason, Bren."

"I don't believe in that, but thank you for trying to be encouraging," she laughed lightly.

"Hey, no problem. You know I'm always looking out for you."

Brennan smiled as they continued to walk in silence. She began to shiver, since it was cold outside, especially since most of the sun was blocked by the leaves of the trees. As Ricky picked up his pace, Brennan began to struggle to keep up, having to make sure she walked in long strides the way he was, even as she started to get tired. She was going to ask him to slow down, but saw something out of the corner of her eye, stopping her words. Without telling him, she quietly strayed off from where she was walking behind him, making her way over to the object.

When she got closer, she huffed in frustration, seeing that it was just an animal bone, probably from a deer. She set the small bone back down and looked up, unable to see her partner anywhere. Knowing he couldn't have gotten too far, she went to go catch up with him, huffing again when she realized that her pant leg was stuck to a branch.

"Dammit," she murmured, leaning down to tug herself free, taking a good two to three minutes trying to detach the fabric from the branch, "Ricky?"

She walked forward a little bit when she was free, able to feel her heart rate increase when she didn't receive an answer. Maybe she just wasn't speaking loud enough.

"Ricky?" She tried again, the only response she received being the tweets of a couple birds and the leaves crunching under her feet as she walked slowly, "Ricky, where are you?"

She was just going to follow where he was going, but realized that she had gotten herself turned around when she went to examine the deer bone. All of these woods looked the same to her. She had no idea which way her partner went.

"Can you hear me? Ricky?"

Her heart began to pound even faster as she glanced around the area, unable to even guess where she should look first. When rational thought began to come back to her, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open, her panic growing stronger when she realized she had no battery. Booth had reminded her to charge her phone the night before. Why didn't she listen? Now she was stuck in the woods alone, having no idea where she was going or where her partner was. He was probably a mile and a half away at that point.

"Ricky!" She tried again, seeing that she had no other options, "If you can hear me, please just, acknowledge me so I can find you."

Her eyes began to sting with tears as she began to walk again, her legs feeling wobbly. She had a feeling that this wasn't good, that something bad was going to happen, and then it did. She felt a sharp pain shoot through her stomach, causing her to lower herself to her knees, clutching her pregnant belly and squeezing her eyes shut when she did.

"Ricky, please," she pleaded with him, her voice hoarse, even though she knew he couldn't hear her, "I'm in labor."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Bren, you've been awfully quiet," Ricky spoke to his partner, who, he had no idea, was no longer behind him, "I'm sorry if you're upset after talking about the whole gang leader abduction incident. I'm sorry if you feel like I forced you to talk about it."<p>

He patiently waited for a response and stopped walking when he only heard the sounds of birds and the occasional deer trotting through the woods.

"Bren?"

He turned around, his heart dropping into his stomach when she was nowhere to be found. He could have sworn she was following behind him only a few seconds before that.

"Bren, come on, where the hell did you go?"

His search started off frantic, as he looked for her, calling her name and pushing his way through vegetation. After about ten minutes, he realized that he wasn't going to find her, that she was already too far gone, and even though he knew this very well may get him murdered, it was his last resort. He pulled out his phone and dialed, his hands trembling when he held it to his ear.

"Booth."

"Booth?" Ricky's voice sounded small and terrified when he spoke, "I...I think I lost your wife."

**Are you all mad at me for leaving it there? xD Remember, reviews make a happy author, and happy authors write faster. ;]**


	16. Please Don't Leave Me

**A/N: Okay, so I felt bad leaving you guys hanging like that, so, despite the fact that it was literally 100 degrees where I live today, I kicked the procrastination that was creeping up on me in the ass and got this chapter out to you. xD It's a little short, but hopefully you don't mind that. Also Sully makes his first appearance in 'Going the Distance' in this chapter (I know you all love him) (and yes, that was sarcastic xD)**

Chapter Sixteen:

"Please Don't Leave Me"

There was a long, lingering silence as Ricky waited for a response, shivering in the cold February air even under his jacket.

"What do you mean you _lost_ my wife?" Ricky could hear the harshness in Booth's tone, even before he knew what happened.

"We went out into the woods where we found the body of our murder victim to look for a missing sternum, an-"

"You took a woman who's eight and a half months pregnant out into the middle of the woods?" Booth cut him off.

"Yes, s-she told me it would be okay. She said n-nothing would happen," he stuttered, having a hard time forming words at the moment.

"You can't listen to Bones when she says things like that, you know she's independent and never thinks anything will happen," Ricky jumped, beginning to fear that the next time he saw this man would be the day he died, "how long has she been gone?"

Ricky glanced at his watch.

"I don't know. The last time I spoke to her was about twenty minutes ago, but I don't know where or when she actually got lost. She was right behind me, I swear. I thought she was just being quiet. I had no idea she was..."

His voice trailed off, and it was silent between them once again. He knew that Booth would be angry. Hell, he would have been angry too if he was Booth. But the fact that he seemed to be staying fairly calm, and not completely losing his mind, worried him. Booth was trying to keep his composure for the sake of finding his wife. He was aware that screaming at and threatening Ricky was not going to get Brennan back any faster. And Ricky knew if he said one wrong thing to him when he joined him in the woods, he would snap.

"Keep looking for her," Booth directed him calmly, "I'll get some people and we'll be there as soon as we can."

* * *

><p>Brennan was laying curled up on her side on top of dead leaves that crunched under her body every time she shifted, grateful that her contractions were still pretty far apart. She had been in false labor before, and she knew for a fact that there was nothing false about this. This was the real thing, and she didn't even want to think about what would happen if somebody didn't find her soon.<p>

It was freezing, and she was shivering violently as she rubbed her hands together, groaning and clutching her stomach when another contraction came on. It was so cold, and she was in so much pain, and the ground she was laying on was dirty. Her pulse began to race as it all started coming back to her.

"_You're going to suffer, Doctor Brennan. While you're slowly and painfully dying yourself, you're going to have to think about your FBI friend, cold and dead in the ground where he belongs."_

Villeda's voice was in her head as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying with all of her power to make it go away. But when she let go of her stomach and her hand fell back to the dirt covered ground, it just seemed to trigger it more.

"_Nobody's going to find you. Nobody's going to help you. You're going to rot down here."_

"No," Brennan murmured to herself, too out of it now to even realize that she was speaking with a voice in her head as her hand reached up to hold the St. Christopher medal that hung around her neck, "no, please, stop. I'm not in that basement. Villeda's dead."

"_You're getting what you deserve, Doctor."_

Brennan bit down hard on her lip, nearly hard enough to draw blood.

"_Pathetic."_

Villeda and Garcia had always called her pathetic when she screamed from the pain, or when she would yelp against her will. But this all happened so long ago. Why was it coming back to haunt her again? Now, not only was she lost in the middle of the woods, attempting to drag herself back up so she could start searching for Ricky again, despite the pain in her stomach, but she was having a panic attack as well.

"Please," she whispered, to no one in particular, "somebody help me."

* * *

><p>When Booth said he was going to get some people, Ricky didn't expect an entire search team to show up. But, then again, Booth had connections, and he was worried about his wife. Ricky couldn't help but to feel immensely guilty as he watched the people spread out to start looking in different sections of the woods. This was his fault. He shouldn't have let her come out there with him in her condition, and he knew Booth, and probably everyone else there, would agree.<p>

Booth waited until everybody dispersed, except for him, Ricky, and Sully, before he turned to look at Ricky.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take out my gun and shoot you now?" He asked, his voice cold and distant.

"Booth, I'm sorry, you know I didn't-"

"No, 'I'm sorry' is not going to get my wife back any faster," he cut him off when he went to explain himself, starting to walk in order to search for her, "my wife is lost out in the woods somewhere because you brought her here. If anything happens to her or my son, it's you I'm coming after. And I'm not going to take it easy on you."

"If anything happens to either of them I'll deserve what ever you do to me," Ricky told him, "I was an idiot. I shouldn't have let her come," it was apparent that he was growing increasingly more upset, well aware of the fact that this was his fault, "I should have told her to stay in the lab with Angela."

"Yeah, you should have," Booth agreed, "if only you would have thought of that before you lost her out in the middle of nowhere."

"I never thought that this would happen," he admitted, "I swear, she was right behind me. I didn't even hear her leave. She must have gone to look at something and didn't tell me, because one minute she was there and the next she wasn't."

"Yeah, you probably should have been making sure she didn't do anything like that. It was your job to take care of her out here. You had one job, Hernandez, and you couldn't even do that. And you put my family at risk because you're selfish. Selfish because you let her come with you when you knew you shouldn't have, just because you wanted her with you."

"You know I didn't want to hurt her Booth. You know how much I care about her."

"A little too much, if you ask me."

"Are you trying to say something?"

"Cut the act, Hernandez. The whole bureau knows you're in love with my wife."

"Of course I'm not. Don't be ridiculous."

"Yeah, of course your not," Booth rolled his eyes as he continued to push through branches to search for the woman they were speaking of with Ricky and Sully, "you know, Hernandez, you're really starting to piss me off. After all of this is over, after we find Bones and she's back at home where she belongs, I don't want you coming near her."

"Well that's really not your call. She's a grown woman, and you don't own her."

"I _don't_ own her, and she _can_ do what she wants, but do you really think she's going to want to see you after you abandon her in the woods?"

"I didn't abandon her! How many times do I-"

"Sh," Sully cut them both off, pressing a finger to his lips to signal for their silence, "did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ricky asked.

"It sounded like someone was saying something, or groaning. I couldn't tell."

They stayed silent for a few seconds, but the sound didn't come again. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Booth called out to her.

"Bones?" He asked, "Bones? Can you hear me?"

Brennan perked up as much as she could in her disoriented state when she heard the familiar voice. Normally she would have assumed she was just hearing things, but, at that moment, she was willing to believe that someone was there to save her.

"Booth?" She called out weakly, attempting to bring herself to her feet, only to sink back to her knees when she began to feel light-headed, starting to drag herself along as best she could.

She could hear the sound of more than one person approaching, as she shuffled a few feet on her knees before having to stop and lean over to clutch her stomach, groaning loudly in pain as she situated herself so she was back to laying on her side.

"Bones, where are you?" Her husband's voice sounded closer than it did the first time he spoke to her.

"I...I don't know," she stuttered, "I'm just...just l-laying-ah!" She cut her sentence off when another sharp pain shot through her stomach, "I-I'm in so much pain."

"It's okay, Bones, I'm coming," he promised, as he pushed through leaves and spider webs, following her voice, "just keep talking."

"I can't," tears stung her eyes as she squeezed them shut in pain, "my stomach..."

"Are you in labor, baby?" He asked, her voice sounding close now.

"Yes," she whispered hoarsely, "please hurry. I can't...the pain is so-"

She stopped when she could see him, and he rushed over to her, dropping to his knees at her side. His hand immediately moved to stroke her hair comfortingly as her face twisted up in agony and she groaned again, clutching her belly with trembling arms.

"Shh, it's okay, I'm here," he hushed her, pulling her gently into his arms, able to feel her shiver, the skin of her hands cold on his, "you're freezing, baby," he let go of her only long enough to pull his jacket off to drape it over her shoulders, over the jacket that was already covering her.

Brennan looked up at him, her eyes switching in and out of focus when she opened them.

"Bones, look at me," he cupped her cheek gently in his hand, his skin warm against her cold skin as he turned her head slightly to look at him, "you're okay."

Brennan nodded as she shivered in his arms, looking at him distractedly as she tried to regain a full sense of what was going on.

"Villeda's dead," she murmured, seeing her husband nod in confirmation, "h-he can't hurt me anymore."

"No," Booth assured her, his voice in a whisper, barely remembering that Sully and Ricky were only standing a few feet away, "he can't hurt you anymore, Bones."

"His voice...it sounded..." she paused, taking a deep breath in, "I'm so cold."

"Bones?" Booth asked, tapping her cheek gently to draw her attention back to him, "Do you know where you are?" She nodded, "Do you know who I am?" She nodded again, "What's my first name?"

"Seeley," she mumbled confidently, "you're," she paused to yelp in pain, biting her bottom lip, her voice a little louder when she continued her thought, since the pain in her stomach was almost unbearable, "you're my husband."

"Good," he kissed her head gently, relieved that she wasn't so disoriented that she was unaware of what was going on, brushing a dead leaf out of the tangled auburn locks before he looked up at Sully from where he was kneeling, "call an ambulance for her."

"I already did, they're on their way," he told him.

"I should go flag them down and lead them to us," Booth said, gently easing his wife out of his lap, feeling her hand grasp his arm roughly when he went to stand up.

"No, please!" She begged, tears filling her eyes quickly, "Please, Booth. Please don't leave me."

"I'm not leaving you, baby, I'm just going to get the ambulance so they can take you to the hospital," he promised, his heart breaking a bit when she begged him, in that heart-wrenching voice, not to leave her there, "you have Ricky and-"

"No," she used all the strength she had to shake her head when he started to get up again, "no, Booth, don't leave me. Please don't leave me here."

"I have to," he whispered softly, taking her hand to pry it gently off of his forearm, standing before she could grab it again when he saw her reach back up.

"Booth!" she sobbed, her hand fisting the air when she reached for him again, "Don't leave me. Please...please, Booth," even though it was difficult for him to leave her there when she was sobbing and begging him not to go, he knew he had to, for her own good, and as he jogged to flag down the ambulance, he could still hear her yelling his name, sobbing and begging.

Brennan pulled her knees to her chest as best as she could with her belly in the way as she nearly screamed in pain, biting on her cheek hard enough to draw blood, wincing when she tasted the metallic flavor in her mouth.

"Temperance, relax," Sully was the one to take Booth's place kneeling next to her, since Ricky was a little too horrified to function at the moment. He had never even seen his partner cry, let alone have a complete mental breakdown the way she was, "you know who this is?"

"Sully," she whispered, even though her eyes never opened to see him.

"Yeah, it's me," Sully confirmed, "and Booth will be at the hospital when we get there, okay? I promise you, Temperance, we're not going to leave you here. We're going to help you and get you to the hospital where you can have a nice, safe, healthy baby."

"What if," she paused, finally opening her eyes to look at Sully when her contractions died down, "what if something happens to Chris? It'll be my fault."

"Nothing will happen to Chris, and none of this is your fault," he promised.

Brennan nodded, even though she wasn't completely convinced.

"Where is Booth?" She asked, looking up at him desperately, "Where is my husband?"

"He's getting the ambulance for you," he told her, keeping his patience with her even though that question had been answered at least three times, "by the time you're all set up in your hospital room, Booth will be right there. I promise."

"Okay," Brennan whispered, staying quiet for a few minutes as she pulled herself up into a sitting position, propping most of her body weight onto Sully's shoulder, "Sully?"

"Yeah, Brennan?"

"Everything hurts."

"It's okay," he put a friendly arm around her shoulder, allowing her to rest on him, "just close your eyes and think about something else. You'll be at the hospital soon."

Brennan did as he suggested and closed her eyes, her hand resting against her stomach when she did, hoping it would ease the pain a bit. She hadn't even noticed Ricky standing awkwardly off to the side, afraid to speak, unsure of whether or not she was angry at him, and blamed him for all of this. Because, the way he was seeing it, he wouldn't have blamed her if she was.


	17. This Is the Good Part, Bones

**A/N: I'm sorry that this took a little while to get out to you guys. I've just been focused on finals this past week, so I haven't had much time to write. But here it is, so wait no more. =]**

**I got a question asking if I have any advice for anyone who would want to write like me. My answer is that you probably want to write like someone else, since I am not exactly the best author to ever live. xD But, in all seriousness, I really don't have any advice. No one ever taught me how to write. It was in the third grade that I realized I had, I guess you could call it a talent, for it when I wrote a story about a lost cat that my teacher actually showed to the other teachers in the teacher's lounge because she thought it was really good writing for a third grader. But I've been writing since I was little, and it always just came easily to me, so I don't really have advice. Sorry, I was no help at all. xD**

Chapter Seventeen:

"This Is the Good Part, Bones"

Brennan was uncomfortable laying in the hospital bed having on and off contractions as she tried to read the book she had ordered her husband to go get for her all but ten minutes after they arrived at the hospital. She told him it was the least he could do, since he left her there in the woods when she was begging him not to, and that was all it took to get him into his SUV and driving back to the apartment to get her things.

"I called Angela and told her you were in labor," Booth told her, seeing her peer up from the book she was reading to look at him, "she and Hodgins are leaving the banquet now and coming here to see you."

"She's probably glad she's getting out of the banquet early," Brennan laughed weakly, "she did not want to go at all."

"Is it like, a requirement that everyone at the Jeffersonian hate the Valentine's Day banquet? Is it a question on the application or something?"

Brennan rolled her eyes, trying to get over the fact that she was still annoyed at him for leaving her, since she was literally in the process of having his child as they spoke.

"No, but we're all scientists there. We don't care much for frivolous events such as banquets for made up holidays," she explained.

"That's when we got together," he reminded her, with a small smile, "if it wasn't for that 'frivolous event', maybe we wouldn't be standing here right now."

"There's no way you could possibly know that. I am very confident that our relationship would have escalated with or without the banquet. Maybe it would have just taken a little longer without."

"Exactly. So if it wasn't for the banquet, we wouldn't be standing here. Because if our relationship didn't escalate until later, it would have taken you longer to get pregnant."

"Now you're just making up stories," she had to laugh at his completely bizarre reasoning, "Christian's conception and the banquet were months apart, and had nothing to do with each other."

"Yeah, but when you mess up one thing in the time line, everything gets screwy," he smiled when he saw the look of complete confusion take over her features, "haven't you ever seen those movies or shows when people go back in time and mess something up, and then the whole world gets messed up as an effect of that?"

"Booth, you should write fiction," she laughed, but it quickly turned into a groan when she began to have another contraction, as she sat up a little more to try to ease the pain.

"I think you told me that once," Booth took her hand so she could squeeze his if the pain became too much, attempting to distract her with the conversation, "I don't think I'd be too good at it though. Not as good as you, at least."

"Stop trying to charm me," she snapped, the intense pain in her abdomen causing her to become a little cranky and impatient with him.

"Alright, Bones, I know you're in pain," he spoke calmly to her, "but you're being just a little snippy."

"I'm giving birth!" She groaned, "I think I should have permission."

When she spoke the words, it seemed to hit him for the first time. She was giving birth. By tomorrow morning, their baby would be born, and they would finally be able to see Christian Seeley Booth, someone who was spoken of, but not seen, for all of these months. In a couple of days, there would be a baby in that crib that he had such a hard time setting up, and there would be bottles in the fridge, and a baby monitor set on their night stand next to their wedding picture. In a couple of years there would be toys scattered around the house they promised each other they were going to buy, and a toddler waddling around, speaking in broken sentences and saying words incorrectly. But now he knew he was getting a little ahead of himself. Have the baby first, then think about the rest of it when the time comes.

"How much longer do you think it's going to be?" He asked when she seemed to relax a bit, keeping his voice soft.

"I don't know," Brennan told him honestly, "labor is very unpredictable. It can last a few hours or through the night."

"How long has it been?" He asked impatiently, wishing that they could just skip this part and she could just have the baby already.

"I don't know, Booth, they made me take off all of my jewelry, so I don't have a watch," she reminded him, looking down and scowling when she remembered how they forced her to remove her wedding ring, as much as she protested, because the metal may have interfered with any machines they may have had to use on her, "what time is it?"

Booth glanced down at the Rolex she had gotten him for Christmas to see the time.

"It's six thirty," he told her, feeling like they had been in the hospital for two days rather than two hours.

"Then it's been almost three hours."

Booth rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, seeming slightly nervous.

"Are you okay?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just," he paused, looking at her seriously, "are you nervous?"

"About having the baby?"

"Yes."

"Of course I am. This is my first child, after all. It's normal to feel a bit of anxiety," she paused, looking back at him with an innocent expression, "are you nervous?"

"A little," he admitted.

He felt slightly more embarrassed than he already was when Brennan laughed.

"You already have a son," she reminded him, with another small laugh, looking up at him as he crossed his arms over his chest in irritation, "there's nothing for you to be nervous about. You already know that you're a great father."

"Just because I have a son doesn't mean that there's no reason for me to be nervous about having another son," he told her, seeing the way she looked at him apologetically when she realized that she may have offended him, "what if I can't split up the time between them equally? What if Parker starts to feel neglected? Or what if I have to go out of town again when Chris is a baby and he doesn't remember me when I come back?"

"Booth, you are an excellent father," she reminded him, reaching up to run her hand over his forearm gently, "you'll be able to do it. I know you will."

"That's what you say now," he murmured, uncrossing his arms to he could take her hand, "but, I don't know. All of these things that could possibly go bad are always running through my head. I don't want to mess anything up."

"You won't," she smiled up at him comfortingly, "I love you, and Christian will love you. I know that for a fact."

Booth half smiled back at her, not feeling completely at ease quite yet.

"And what about us?" He asked, his tone a little softer when he addressed that subject.

"What _about_ us?"

"Are we okay?"

Brennan's expression indicated her confusion.

"Yes," she said, as if that was obvious, "were we ever not okay?"

"I don't know," she could tell he was back to feeling uncomfortable, "you seemed upset with me when I left you with Ricky and Sully in the woods."

"I _was_ upset with you," she told him, "I don't think I've ever been like that before in my life."

"What? With the crying?"

"Yes. The crying and the begging. That is not me. It's not what I do, and you know that. I was just vulnerable because I was in so much pain, and I was thinking about the Villeda incident from last year, and you wouldn't even stay with me. You know that I don't ever get like that, and you left me anyway. You physically pried my hand off of your arm and left me there."

"Bones, I don't even know what I was thinking at that point," he told her honestly, "I was just worried about you and the baby, and my brain kind of went into autopilot. Normally I would have sent Ricky or Sully, but everything was just moving so fast, and I felt like I needed to be the one to do it, because, God forbid, one of them went down there and then couldn't lead them back to the right place, or got lost on the way down. I just felt like if I did everything myself then everything would be done the way it should have been. All I could think about was keeping you and Christian safe, and, at the moment, going to get the ambulance myself felt like the best way to do that."

"And does it still feel that way?" She asked.

"Admittedly, if I sent Sully or Ricky in probably would have been fine, but that wasn't really a situation where I wanted to take my chances," he told her seriously, "more Sully than Ricky. I wasn't asking Ricky to do anything at the moment. Knowing him he'd probably get lost, or trip and break his leg, and we'd still be in the woods as we speak."

Brennan saw him roll his eyes in irritation, even at his own mention of her partner. She could understand why he was mad at him, but he didn't know the whole story. Ricky hadn't asked her to come with him, she had insisted. And she knew she should have told him she was going to look at that animal bone, so, really, none of this was his fault.

"Take it easy on Ricky," she said softly, "I think he's really upset."

"He should be," Booth murmured.

"Booth, please, it really wasn't his fault," she told him, even though her eyes were sympathetic, telling him that she understood the way he was feeling, "I'm not saying you have to be his biggest fan, but please, just take it easy on him."

"So you're not mad at him?" Booth asked, "At all?"

"No," she shrugged, "he never asked me to come out into the woods with him."

"But he didn't stop you either."

"That's true, but-"

"But nothing, Bones," Booth cut her off in an irritated voice, "I don't want to snap at you, but you have to understand, I could have lost my wife and my son because of him, and the fact that you're sticking up for him is just a little annoying."

Brennan wanted to tell him that he was being a jerk, getting mad at her while she was in labor, but she didn't. She understood why he was stressed, and even why he was getting annoyed with her 'take it easy on Ricky' request.

"Okay," she said, just leaving it at the one simple word.

"Okay?" He asked.

"Yes," she looked at him seriously, "you have every right to," she closed her eyes, her face twisting up in pain before she continued, "be angry with him. I'm sorry I was trying to convince you otherwise."

"It's fine, it's alright," he promised, not wanting her to worry about apologizing to him over something so stupid when she was having contractions, as he leaned down to kiss her head, "let's just not talk about it anymore. How does that sound?"

"Satisfactory," she laughed as much as she could at the moment, feeling more comforted when his hand stroked her shoulder.

For some reason, at that moment, everything became real for her. Sure, the sonograms and the crib set up in their apartment made her anxious for the baby to come, and made it more realistic, but it wasn't until right then that everything actually fell into place. With tears in her eyes, half from pain and half from joy, she looked up at her husband.

"We're going to have a baby, Booth," she whispered.

"Yeah," he whispered back, with a small laugh, kissing her head again, "we're going to have a baby, Bones."

* * *

><p>It was a couple of hours later when Angela showed up, in her strapless red dress and black stiletto heels with her husband, who was decked out in a nice suit, since they were coming straight from the Valentine's Day banquet. Brennan couldn't help but to feel jealous of her friend, who looked gorgeous in her formalwear, while she was laying in the hospital with her hair up in a sloppy bun and her face flushed from the contractions.<p>

"Sweetie, we left as soon as Booth called," she promised her, setting her clutch down on one of the chairs in the room, "if it wasn't for a certain someone driving like a grandma, we would have been here a lot faster."

She shot Hodgins a dirty look when she spoke about him.

"Well, the roads were slippery and I didn't want to get into an accident," Hodgins said defensively, "sorry I didn't want to be laying in a hospital bed myself. No offence, Doctor B."

"It's snowing?" Brennan asked, completely ignoring their little argument.

"It's practically a blizzard," Angela told her, "we almost weren't able to make it here. The roads are getting pretty bad."

Brennan looked up at her husband, her eyes lighting up like a child's on Christmas.

"Christian was conceived during a blizzard and now he is going to come into the world during a blizzard," she pointed out, a smile on her face.

"Aw, he's going to be a little blizzard baby," Angela laughed, before Booth had a chance to respond, "and his birthday is not only going to be on your anniversary, but on Valentine's Day too. I hope you know he's so going to be my Valentine next year."

"Apparently now I have some competition," Hodgins laughed, causing Brennan and Booth to both laugh lightly as well, "that kid better watch his back. I better not catch him eyeing my woman."

"If it makes you feel any better, Hodgins, he'll be stealing my woman from me too," Booth assured him, "she's going to love him a lot more than she loves me."

"Oh, Booth," Brennan rolled her eyes, a smile on her face, "you know that isn't true."

"I think Booth is already getting jealous of all the attention that's going to be taken away from him and given to the baby," Angela patted Booth's shoulder affectionately, "don't worry, big guy. You can still come hang out with us if she starts to neglect you."

"I'm already starting to feel a little neglect-"

"Oh," Brennan's yelp cut them all off, as she fisted the blanket she was under in her palm and squeezed her eyes shut again, "shut up. All of you. No one is going to neglect anyone."

"How much longer until she has the baby?" Angela asked, "because her moodiness is not going to be something I'll miss."

"The doctor said not too much longer," Booth told her, looking at Angela when he spoke to her, even as he stroked Brennan's hair, "she's going to start pushing soon."

"How long has it been?" Angela asked.

"Six hours," Brennan snapped, "it's only been six hours and I am ready to rip this baby out myself," she looked at Angela and cut her off when she opened her mouth to speak, "stop talking. You are all driving me insane."

Booth looked at Hodgins and Angela apologetically.

"Maybe you guys should go," he suggested.

Hodgins nodded.

"Yeah, it would probably be best if we did. It's only a matter of time before she starts spitting fire."

Booth had to laugh as the married couple exited the room, leaving the two of them alone again. He took his wife's hand, allowing her to squeeze it, nearly crushing every bone in it when she did.

"Bones, maybe you should try some of those breathing exercises," he suggested.

"Maybe you should shut up," she hissed, squeezing his hand again as she groaned in pain.

He did as she asked and didn't speak again, simply letting her crush his hand and groan and writhe in pain. It was almost another ten minutes before the doctor came in again, able to see the pain on both of their faces. Brennan from being in labor, and Booth from having his hand crippled. She pulled on her gloves and looked over to them.

"Temperance, dear, we're going to start pushing now, okay?" She asked, even though, regardless of her answer, she was going to have to anyway.

Brennan nodded, her breathing labored as she looked up at Booth desperately.

"Booth, I'm scared," she told him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," he promised, leaning down to kiss her sweaty forehead, "this is the good part, Bones. We're going to have our baby now."

He wiped a tear off of her cheek when it escaped from her eyes.

"I'm sorry I told you to shut up," she whispered, bringing the hand she was squeezing up to her mouth to kiss it softly, "I love you, Booth."

"I love you too," he whispered back, running his thumb over her knuckles affectionately, "everything is good, Bones. Christian will be here before you know it."

* * *

><p>All of their friends were out in the waiting room. Angela, Hodgins, Cam, Zack, Sweets, and even Sully and Ricky, all patiently waiting for someone to either come out with the baby, or come out to tell them that the baby was here. Angela was picking at her nail polish, able to hear her friend's screams of pain just slightly from where she was sitting.<p>

"Why is she screaming like that?" She asked, turning to look at her husband, "does that mean that something's going wrong?"

"No, love, she's giving birth. It's supposed to hurt," he assured her.

Angela looked at him with a concerned expression.

"Maybe we should stop trying to get pregnant," she laughed lightly.

"Ange," he laughed as well, "when everything is said and done, ask Brennan about it. I'm willing to bet she says the pain was worth it."

"I guess," Angela shrugged, starting to pick at her nail polish again, "Jack?"

"Yes?"

"What if I can't get pregnant?" She asked, biting her lip, "I know this really isn't an appropriate time, but, I mean, Brennan going into labor really got me thinking about it again, and we've been trying for a while now..."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he told her, kissing her cheek comfortingly, "we'll try a few more times, and if we don't have any luck, then we'll go see what's up, okay?"

"Okay," Angela nodded, resting her head against his shoulder, feeling his arm wrap protectively around her waist, "right now let's focus on Brennan and Christian."

"Yeah," Hodgins agreed, holding her close, "let's focus on one baby at a time."


	18. We Love You Too

**A/N: Hola =] I'm sorry, this chapter's short, but I wanted to get it out tonight, and I'm too tired to write anymore. xD So I hope you like the little bit that is here.**

Chapter Eighteen:

"We Love You Too"

"Why hasn't the doctor come out yet?" Angela asked, looking up at her husband with concern in her eyes.

"Maybe the baby wasn't born yet," Hodgins tried to comfort her, running his fingers through her dark curls, which were resting against his shoulder, "she might not be ready to actually deliver yet."

"The way she was screaming," Angela paused, sighing deeply, "I'm having a hard time believing that she didn't deliver yet. I don't think she would scream like that if they were just regular contractions."

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," he told her, "the doctor said that she was having a healthy pregnancy."

"Things go wrong during birth all of the time," she reminded him.

"I'm sure nothing's wrong, Angela," Cam added in her two cents, even though she was feeling a little nervous as well, since it had been quite some time since the doctor went into Brennan's room, "I'm a little nervous too, but I'm sure we're just worrying about nothing."

Angela nodded, but couldn't shake the feeling of distress. She had seen medical shows, and she knew all of the things that could go wrong during birth. And she knew that if anything happened to Chris, neither Brennan nor Booth would ever be the same again. They loved this baby, and they needed him. Even though neither of them would admit it, their relationship had been shaky lately, and Angela knew that Christian was just what they needed to bring them back together. On that same note, if they lost him, that may be the breaking point. Losing Christian might be the thing that would shatter their relationship. The two of them would both be so depressed over the loss of their child, that their romance would be the last thing on their minds.

"Come on, Brennan," she murmured to herself, "we're worried about you."

* * *

><p>"He's handsome like you," Brennan commented as she held the little blue bundle in her arms, watching as Christian's nose wrinkled a few times, "I'm glad he's finally out."<p>

"He'll be a genius like you though," Booth told her, reaching over to fix the little blue hat that was on his head from where he sat in the chair next to her bed, "it's surreal, right? Actually holding him?"

"Yes," she said, watching the baby's half-open eyes as he stared at her, "look at him, Booth," she sighed, "he looks so peaceful."

"Yeah, he's not very fussy, which is a good thing," he chuckled, both of their eyes fixed on the newborn, "even though that'll probably change as soon as we get home."

"The way he was kicking at me in the last couple months, I was sure he'd be the fussiest baby in existence," she smiled as she spoke, cuddling the baby close to her chest, "it's strange that someone so little is going to make such an impact on our lives."

Before Booth could even respond to the last comment, the doctor spoke to them.

"Would you like me to go get your friends so they can come see the baby as well?"

"No," Brennan said, almost a little too quickly, "I mean, Booth and I would like to spend a little more alone time with him before our friends come in here and take over."

"Should I at least go tell them that everything went smoothly and that you're just recovering now?" She asked, not sure how she felt about the two of them leaving their friends in anticipation for such a long period of time.

"No," Brennan shook her head, repeating the word again, even though her eyes never left the baby when she spoke to the doctor, "you don't know our friends. If you tell them, then they'll want to come in, and they'll be asking you every three seconds if I'm ready for visitors yet, and I don't want them to be a burden. We're not going to leave them there for long, we just want to bond with Christian right now without our friends hovering."

"I understand," the doctor nodded, "but I'm going to have to leave the room to test the baby's blood and make sure everything is as fine as it seems."

Brennan sighed as she held her son close. She really didn't want to tell them yet, since, as she told the doctor, she knew how they would get, but she could see that it was becoming inevitable. There would be no way for the doctor to leave the room without all of them asking her a million questions about what was going on.

"Then can you just tell them that I'm very tired and can't handle visitors right now?" She asked, hopefully.

The doctor smiled as she picked up the tiny sample of blood from the baby in her glove covered hand.

"I sure can, but I'm going to come back soon, and you're going to have to get up and try to use the bathroom."

"Okay," Brennan easily agreed, as the doctor left the room, closing the door quietly behind her, leaving the couple alone in silence, the only other person in the room being their silent baby, whose eyes were squinty and unfocused as he gazed up at his mother.

They sat in the quiet for a few minutes, both of them needing the silence after the hectic day. Brennan was still in quite a bit of pain, but holding her son, able to feel his body heat against hers, made it all worth it. The pain was the last thing on her mind at the moment.

"So how does it feel to be a mommy?" Booth finally asked, keeping his voice low, not wanting to break the calm feeling of the room.

"I like it," she told him, rubbing the blue bundle gently when the baby hiccuped, "although I am very tired and everything is sore. But I looked it up online and everyone says that it's normal. They say the soreness will start to lessen within a few days."

"That's good. You know I don't like to see you in pain," Brennan smiled at the sweet comment, "and, you know, at least I'm not sticking a camera in your face like some husbands do. That would probably make it worse."

"No, you are not, and I'm very grateful," she used the arm the wasn't supporting the baby to run her hand through her husband's hair, "you are such a kind and considerate husband, Seeley Booth, and I am lucky to have you."

They only looked at each other for a minute before they heard a small noise come from the baby in Brennan's arms, looking at him as he began to fuss.

"Uh-oh," Booth commented, "looks like his calmness is over."

"He's probably hungry," Brennan commented, cupping the back of the baby's head gently with her free hand as she propped him up a bit, "are you hungry, Chris?" She asked, knowing that he was incapable of answering.

"Oh God, are you going to start breast feeding now?" Booth asked, unable to help the blush that was creeping onto his cheeks.

"Do I have a choice?" She asked, as the baby started to cry full out, "He's obviously hungry, and even though I'll transfer the breast milk into bottles once we're home, I am unable to do that at the moment."

"Alright, I've got you," Booth knew that she was right, and that she didn't have a choice, "I'll just close my eyes."

Booth shut his eyes and placed a hand over them, able to hear the rustle of sheets when she sat up a little straighter. It was about thirty seconds before Brennan spoke again.

"Booth, you've seen my breasts before," she reminded him, seeing him make no attempts to open his eyes, even after she pointed out the fact, "I don't know why this makes you so uncomfortable."

"Because, I know I've seen your..." he paused, the word making him slightly uncomfortable, "breasts, before, but it's just different like this. I feel like I'd be invading your privacy if I opened my eyes."

"If you say so," Brennan shrugged.

Booth kept his eyes covered, waiting for her to give him the okay to open them again. Christian had stopped crying, so he assumed that meant that he was cooperating.

"Does it hurt?" Booth asked.

"Breast feeding?" Brennan asked back.

"Yeah."

"A little," she told him, "why?"

"Because I know in the past couple months you told me that it hurt even when you hugged me a little too tightly. I know when you're pregnant and right after you give birth you're a little sore, you know, up there. So I figured it couldn't be comfortable."

"It isn't overly comfortable, but it's not excruciating pain either," she told him, "your concern for me is cute, Booth, but it is unnecessary."

Booth smiled, unaware that she was looking down at him, since his eyes were covered.

"You think I'm cute?" He asked.

"I said your concern for me is cute," she clarified, "but I suppose you are cute as well."

"You _suppose_ I'm cute?" He asked, "Ouch, Bones. Way to take a shot at my self esteem. Because if you asked me, I would say you were cute without any hesitation. And no 'I suppose' in front of it either."

"I'm sorry," she laughed lightly, "you are very cute Booth. And thank you for saying the same for me, even though I really don't feel that way right now."

"What are you talking about?"

"I just gave birth," she reminded him, "I'm covered in dried up sweat, my feel are swollen, and now I'm just fat. I don't even have the 'there's a baby inside me' excuse anymore. There is no possible way you find me 'cute' at the moment."

"Of course I do," he smiled charmingly, "even though I'm not looking at you right this very second, I know you look beautiful."

"Beautiful?" She laughed bitterly, "Hardly."

"You just gave birth to our son, Bones. To me, you've never been more beautiful."

"I think you're just trying to flatter me because you feel bad that I'm in pain."

"No. Of course not. You're beautiful, Temperance. I wouldn't lie to you about that."

It was quiet for another couple of minutes between them. Booth couldn't understand what he could have said that made her not want to speak anymore, since all he did was call her beautiful, but he just figured that she was tired, and decided she didn't want to bicker over something so petty.

"You can open your eyes if you want now," Brennan told him, after, what felt like, an hour, "we're all finished. Christian is full and falling asleep."

Booth removed his hand from his eyes and opened them, looking at the baby, whose head was now tilted a bit to the side, his eyes closed, as Brennan held him close.

"The doctor's going to want to put him in the nursery to sleep," Brennan told her husband, stroking her hand affectionately over the blue blanket that her son was wrapped in, "I don't want to leave him there, Booth. It's a strange feeling. I don't want anyone else to hold him, other than you, of course, and I don't want to let him out of my sight. I just want him to be with me at every moment. I'm afraid that if I take my eyes off of him, something will happen."

"It's your maternal instincts kicking in, Bones," Booth laughed lightly, reaching over to place his hand over hers, stopping the constant motion of her hand over the soft material of the blanket, "but I promise, he'll be fine in the nursery. I'll check on him every ten minutes if you want me to."

Brennan laughed lightly.

"That won't be necessary," she told him, "I trust that the hospital will keep him safe," she paused as she watched Christian's sleeping face, all of the sudden doubting the hospital's capabilities, "but, if you wouldn't mind checking on him every hour..."

Booth laughed, his thumb running over her knuckles.

"I'll check on him every half hour," he assured her, "plus Angela will probably be there gawking at him too once he's out of here. She's already in love with him and they haven't even met."

"I thought I loved him as much as I could before," she finally tore her eyes away from the newborn and looked at her husband, blue eyes meeting brown, "but then I got to see him, actually see him, and I just loved him that much more," she kissed the top of the baby's hat covered head ever so gently, "when he first came out, and he wasn't crying..." she paused, "there were just so many things running through my mind. I thought there was something wrong, and the fear I felt was not a familiar feeling. When I thought that something was wrong with him, I couldn't breathe. Christian is so important to me. _Our family _is so important to me."

"I know, babe. Our family means everything to me too," Booth agreed, "and I know right now you want to bond with the baby, but you need to do something for yourself and sleep, because you're exhausted."

Brennan sighed, looking down at the sleeping baby.

"Can you hold Christian while I sleep?" She asked.

"Yeah, of course," he said, sitting up when she carefully handed him the baby, taking him gently into his arms, supporting the back of his head with one hand, "come here, little man, we're gonna let mamma sleep now, okay? Because she had a long day and she needs her sleep."

Brennan smiled over at her two favorite men.

"I love you," she whispered, "both of you."

"We love you too," he told her, sharing body heat with his son as Brennan felt her eyes begin to drift shut, unaware of how exhausted she was until she actually laid down to sleep, "we love you too, Bones."


	19. I Was Being Foolish

**A/N: Last chapter before I go to Ireland (I'm leaving tonight =D) Thank you to everyone who wished me a nice trip. You guys are all so nice. I stayed up late last night to get the majority of this chapter done, since I wanted to get at least one more chapter out before I left, so hopefully you all enjoy. And don't hesitate to leave a review *wink wink* xD**

Chapter Nineteen:

"I Was Being Foolish"

Brennan woke up in a fog when she felt something being strapped around her arm. She had been in such a deep sleep that she almost forgot where she was, until she opened her eyes to see the white walls of the hospital and an unfamiliar doctor taking her blood pressure.

"I'm sorry, dear," the older woman apologized as the strap began to tighten around her bicep, "I didn't want to wake you, but I have to check your blood pressure. You can go back to sleep after this."

Brennan was barely paying attention when she spoke, as she glanced around the room.

"Booth," she mumbled, in a scratchy, sleep-ridden voice.

"I'm sorry?"

"Where's Booth?" She tried again.

"Your husband?" The doctor asked, seeing Brennan nod weakly in confirmation, "he's right outside with your friends and family. I have to admit, you threw me for a bit of a loop there. I've never heard someone refer to their husband by last name before."

Brennan, feeling a bit more alert, rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"He doesn't like to be called Seeley," she explained, "apparently the women that were in his life before me didn't understand that, because they all did."

The doctor smiled adoringly.

"Well maybe that's why he married you and not them," she said, sweetly, "listening to your partner is an important part of a marriage."

Brennan nodded in agreement.

"I love him," she told her, out of the blue, "we love each other."

"I don't doubt it," the woman told her, "when I came in here to check on you before he was staring at you adoringly while you slept."

Brennan felt her cheeks warm up in embarrassment. She had asked him to stop watching her sleep, since it made her uncomfortable, and now, not only did he decide he wasn't going to stop, but he was doing it in front of other people too.

"Yeah, he does that," she mumbled.

"Oh, no need to be embarrassed, dear," the doctor laughed lightly, "I don't usually see couples like that anymore, and it's a breath of fresh air. The way he was looking at you was so full of love, and it just makes it that much better because you weren't aware of it. He wasn't trying to impress you, or prove how much he loves you, he was just, watching. People don't do that enough anymore."

"I didn't think love existed until exactly one year ago," Brennan told her, the painkillers they had her on making her a bit of a chatterbox when it came to she and Booth's relationship, which she was usually very discreet about when she was speaking with strangers, "I thought love was just a chemical reaction. Booth taught me otherwise."

"It seems like you two are quite the fairytale," she laughed softly.

"No, not exactly," Brennan laughed as well, "our relationship is good, but 'fairytale' is probably not the most accurate word to describe it. We bicker constantly and poke fun at one another on a daily basis. Many people would argue that our relationship is unhealthy."

"Well I won't say it sounds like a pedestrian marriage," the doctor admitted, getting her needle ready so she could draw a bit of blood from her patient, "but, hey, it seems to be working for you. As far as I can tell, he's head over heels in love with you."

Brennan smiled as she thought about her husband, feeling strangely reassured when she found out that other people could see how much he cared about her as well. She was glad that she wasn't just delusional, and that he was as madly in love with her as she believed him to be. But, then again, he was Booth. Her Booth. And he loved her enough to conceive a child with her and to marry her. _A child_. The thought hit her like a freight train.

"Where's my son?" She asked, barely even flinching when the doctor stuck a needle into her arm to take blood.

"He's with your husband, sweetheart," she told her, smiling warmly at her, "he's showing him off to all of your friends."

* * *

><p>"Wow, Booth," Angela cradled the baby in her arms, cuddling him as he squirmed slightly and whimpered, "he's beautiful," she smiled down at his fully closed eyes, laughing lightly when he squirmed again, "you're a handsome man, aren't you?"<p>

The baby only whined in response, seeming less than pleased with the compliment.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. All the ladies seem to think so," Booth joked, playfully stroking his own ego.

"I wasn't talking to you," Angela reached over to slap his bicep playfully, "I was talking about the incredibly handsome man who I'm holding."

"Oh yeah, well, he's okay too."

Angela simply rolled her eyes, a smile on her face as she continued her conversation with Christian.

"I'm your Auntie Angela," she told him, keeping her voice soft, hoping to calm him down with the soothing tone, "we're going to be really good friends, Christian. And you're a lucky boy to have two parents like your mommy and daddy. Everyone around you already loves you so much. Mommy and daddy, me, Uncle Hodgins, Cam, Sweets, and even Zack, even though he probably wouldn't say it outwardly...at least without being completely logical about it."

Booth laughed when she spoke to the baby, silently agreeing with everything she said. Angela spoke to him for a little while longer before kissing his head softly, looking over at Booth afterwards as she stroked the blue bundle in her arms.

"Have you slept yet, Booth?" She asked, taking notice to the fact that it was very late, and both he and Brennan had a very long night.

"Nah, I'll sleep a little later," he shrugged, "I'm still running on all that adrenaline from Chris being born."

"No you're not," Angela laughed, "it's been two hours. And even though eleven is not extremely late, you've had a long and grueling day. You should sleep. Brennan would want you to."

"Oh, don't even try to use the 'Brennan would want you to' card," Booth laughed, not falling for her little trick, "Bones is asleep, not dead."

"You are not easily persuaded," she commented.

"Tell me something I don't know," Booth had to laugh lightly.

Angela just smiled down at Christian, captivated by the baby in her arms.

"You're gorgeous," she told him, touching his soft, warm cheek with the tips of her fingers before addressing the baby's father, "you and Brennan are so lucky to have him. He's perfect."

Booth couldn't stop the small smile from coming onto his lips.

"You want a baby," he told her, rather than asked.

"Yes," she told him bluntly, "I do want a baby. I mean, Hodgins and I are married now, and we've actually been trying to get pregnant for a few months now. Three months, to be exact. We try when we know I'm ovulating, but..."

"No such luck?"

"Not yet. Hodgins says we'll keep trying though, and if it still doesn't happen we'll have to go see a doctor to make sure everything's normal with both of us, and that we can actually have a baby," she had to laugh lightly, "we're the exact opposite of you. You have two kids. Apparently every time you have unprotected sex a new baby is made."

"Hey, easy," Booth laughed, blushing involuntarily, "in my defense, I thought Bones was on birth control, and Rebecca and I were always safe," he took short pause, feeling uncomfortable discussing his former sex life with Angela, "condoms aren't always effective."

"Oh, so Parker was the result of a break?" She asked.

"I'm not discussing this with you any further," Booth held his hand up to stop her when she went to speak again, "jeez, I don't know how I always get sucked in to discussing my former sex life with you. I don't even talk about this stuff with Bones."

"You and Brennan never talked about your relationship with Rebecca?" She asked.

"No! What would have even brought that up in the first place?"

"I don't know, I feel like you guys should have just talked about it at some point. I mean, you've been together for a year, and you're married. It just seems like something that may have came up at some point in your relationship. Hodgins and I have talked about our former lovers."

"That's because you and Hodgins aren't exactly the definition of normal."

"That was hurtful, Booth," she told him, playfully.

"No need to get offended, all I'm saying is that, that isn't exactly great pillow talk. What was I supposed to have done? 'Hey, Bones, wanna hear the story of how Parker was conceived?' She knows I had a sex life before her, and vice versa, but that's as far as it goes."

Angela shrugged, not necessarily disagreeing with him, but not completely agreeing either. According to she and Hodgins, being open with one another was what kept a relationship and a marriage healthy.

"All I'm saying is that maybe you should be more open with one another," she shrugged.

Booth was grateful that Christian started to cry, cutting off the awkward conversation there, since it caused Angela to turn her attention from him to the crying infant.

"Aw, what's the mater, handsome?" She asked, rocking the baby gently back and forth, trying to relax him, "Do you want to go back to daddy?"

He only cried louder when she rocked him.

"He probably wants to go back to mama," Booth told her, holding out his arms in acceptance when she went to hand him his baby, "I don't know why he's crying. He can't possibly be hungry again, can he? Bones just fed him a couple hours ago. And, plus, I don't want to go in there and wake her up."

"Just try to calm him down, and if he doesn't relax, you're going to have to wake her up," Angela shrugged, a small smile on her face, "it'll be preparing her for the real thing. This little guy's going to wake you guys up at all hours of the night."

"Great," he murmured, holding the baby close as he rocked him, his crying settling down just a bit, "you're going to be a pain in daddy's neck, aren't you?"

When he looked down at his innocent little face, his squinty eyes, his little button nose, it was hard to believe that he was going to be anything but an angel. But Booth knew that he was a baby, and that was what babies did. They cried, and woke people up in the middle of the night.

"Don't even pretend you're not going to love it," Angela laughed, "well, maybe not the getting woken up part, but you'll love having this little guy in the house."

Booth laughed lightly, watching as Christian's crying quickly died down and he started to fall asleep almost immediately, the gentle motion of the rocking making him drowsy.

"Yeah," Booth agreed, watching his son adoringly, "I'm going to love it."

* * *

><p>Brennan was staring blankly at the wall, feeling hollow without her baby. He had been growing inside her for nine months, and now, not only was he out, but he wasn't even in the room with her. Even though she knew it was irrational, she longed for him.<p>

She perked up a bit when she heard a soft knock on the door, loud enough to be heard, but soft enough to not wake her up if she was asleep. She called out for them to come in, assuming that it was Booth and the baby, only to be surprised when she was wrong.

"Hi, Ricky," she said, trying her best to cover up the disappointment in her voice.

"Hey," his voice was warm, as he closed the door behind him, "how are you feeling, kiddo?"

"Kiddo?" Brennan questioned his choice in pet names, "must I remind you that you _are_ a year younger than me? If anyone was going to be 'kiddo' it'd be you."

Ricky laughed, approaching her bed.

"Age is just a number, Bren," he reminded her, smiling sweetly, "in all seriousness though, how are you?"

"I'm okay," she told him, honestly, "I'm in a bit of pain, but nothing unmanageable."

"Good," he seemed relieved to have heard the news. Before he spoke again, he took a long pause, looking down at his hands, slightly afraid to make eye contact, "Listen, Bren, I've been thinking about this all day, since we got here..." he paused again, glancing up at her, seeing her look at him curiously, "I'm really sorry about what happened to you before. This wasn't inevitable. All of this could have been-"

"Ricky," Brennan cut him off, holding her hand up, signaling for him to stop, "please, don't stress yourself out. You don't have to apologize. This wasn't your fault."

"No, it was," his voice was more serious than she could ever remember it being, as he took her hand gently in his, "listen to me, Temperance. I should have stopped you from coming in the first place, but I didn't. The least I could have done was kept an eye on you. I just...lost focus. I completely forgot that you were eight and a half months pregnant, and that's not something that should have slipped my mind. I should have been taking care of you."

"_You_ listen to _me_," Brennan told him, sternly, "it is not your job to take care of me. You were _doing_ your job, Ricky. I was being foolish. I should have told you that I was going to look at something instead of just expecting you to know. Please, don't blame yourself for what happened. It's in the past. I'm fine, Chris is fine, everything is fine."

"If something happened to you..." Ricky swallowed the dry feeling in his throat, running his thumb over the back of her hand, "I don't know what I would have done. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

"But nothing happened," she was trying her best to be comforting, as she let go of his hand, only to hold her arms out to embrace him. When he accepted her offer and hugged her tightly, she moved her hand to stroke his silky locks of black hair comfortingly as he rested his forehead against her shoulder, "there is nothing for you to be upset about."

"I know," he sighed, his breath warm against the fabric of her hospital gown when he spoke. He smelled like mint chewing gum and expensive cologne, "I just can't help but to think about all the things that could have gone wrong."

Brennan simply nodded, moving her hand from his hair to his back, rubbing her palm gently against the suit jacket he was still wearing. As she held her partner, comforting him, she saw the door open, surprised to see Max standing in the doorway. He looked just as surprised to see her hugging someone who was clearly not Booth, and, seeing the confusion on his face, she simply looked at him with eyes that said, 'I'll explain all of this later.'


	20. What Am I Supposed to Do?

**A/N: I'm home =D Thank you to everyone who wished me a nice trip. Ireland was amazing. It's beautiful there, and the people are so incredibly nice. I've only been home for three days and I already want to go back. xD **

**And, CrayonClown, I hope you enjoyed your honeymoon. =D Congratulations on getting married. **

**So hopefully you guys aren't _too_ upset with me after the end of this chapter. **

Chapter Twenty:

"What Am I Supposed To Do?"

"Hi, dad," Brennan said, her words causing Ricky to let go of her and turn to look at the visitor, unaware that there was anyone else in the room until she spoke to them, "you didn't have to come all the way here in the snow. You could have just called."

"And missed the chance to see my first grandson not even a day after he's born?" Max laughed lightly, as he stepped into the room, "not a chance. And plus, I wanted to check up on you in person, make sure you were doing alright," he looked at the tall, broad man standing next to his daughter's bed, "who's this?"

"I'm Ricky Hernandez, I'm your daughter's partner," he held his hand out for Max to shake, seeing the look of confusion on his face when he shook his hand in a firm grip.

"No, you must be mistaken," Max said, simply, "Booth is my daughter's partner."

"Dad, Booth and I don't work together anymore," Brennan was mortified when her father tried to tell Ricky that he didn't know what he was talking about, "I know for a fact that we spoke about this."

"Oh, right, of course," Max laughed, clearly not nearly as embarrassed as his daughter was, as he turned to smile apologetically at Ricky, "sorry, I'm old. Senior moment."

"No harm no foul, Mr. Brennan," he assured him.

"Keenan actually," he corrected him casually, "you know Tempe's husband?"

Brennan nearly kicked him out right then, knowing that her father was bringing up the word 'husband' because he was a little suspicious of the hug the two of them were sharing. He knew that Brennan didn't think anything of it, since she saw things differently than most people, but, to Max, that looked like more than a friendly hug.

"Yes, Booth and I have actually worked a case together before he was partnered up with Bren. That was when I first came into the FBI though."

"So you're pretty young," Max commented.

"I'm only a year younger than Temperance," Ricky laughed awkwardly, feeling like he was, all of the sudden, being interrogated by his partner's father, "I'm younger than most of the guys I work with, but I keep up."

"I'm sure you do," Max's voice was condescending, catching the warning look that Brennan gave him before he changed the subject, "so where's Booth with the baby? I want to hold my grandson."

"I don't know. The doctor said he was outside," Brennan happily jumped subjects when the new one came up, not wanting her father to grill Ricky any further.

"I'll go get him for you if you want," Ricky volunteered, making it clear to his partner that her father had made him uncomfortable, and he wanted nothing more than to get out of that room, "I saw him talking to Angela before I came in."

"Thanks, Rick, that'd be great," Max gave him a friendly pat on the back as he left the room, waiting for the door to close behind him before he spoke again, "that kid's a little green, isn't he?"

Brennan scoffed at the comment.

"He's a year younger than me, and he's seen a lot," she told him, feeling strangely defensive of her partner, "he isn't green."

"He seems it to me. I mean, the kid still puts a 'y' at the end of his name. If he wants to be a respected adult, he should go by Rick," he shrugged, "you have to remember, sweetheart, mentally, you're much older than you are. You've been through a lot, so the fact that he's only one year younger than you doesn't mean anything."

"Dad, you're acting like he's a clueless teenager. He is a grown man and a successful FBI agent. He's seen and experienced his fair share. The fact that he has a 'y' at the end of his name means absolutely nothing."

"All I'm saying is that maybe you should be working with someone who's more...up to par with you. Someone who's more experienced."

Brennan crossed her arms over her chest. Max could be so difficult sometimes. She knew the only reason he was being so insistent about this was because the hug he witnessed between she and Ricky, which, in reality, meant nothing, had rubbed him the wrong way.

"You don't know what he's experienced," she muttered.

"Do you?" Max asked.

Brennan paused.

"No," she admitted, "but that's normal. We've only known each other for a few months. He's not going to share his life story with me. He doesn't know anything about my childhood either. Sure, we get along, but we barely know each other."

"Well apparently you've known each other long enough to hug like that."

"It was a hug, dad. The same way I hug you and Russ and Angela," Brennan sighed as she sat up a little, watching the door, needing her husband to come in to interrupt the current conversation, "where the hell is Booth?"

"Relax sweetheart, I'm sure he's coming. That is, unless your new partner got lost in the shuffle of doctors and nurses," he laughed lightly, seeing that his daughter wasn't finding it nearly as funny as he was, "have you gotten up and walked around yet?"

"Yes, dad," she tried her hardest not to let the irritation show in her voice, "a doctor woke me up a while ago and made me use the bathroom."

"Good, because you're supposed to walk a little after you give birth. I still remember from when your mother first had Russ and you," the memory seemed to make him happy, "you were eight pounds, five ounces. And when you came out, boy, were you screaming, making your presence known to the world."

Brennan laughed lightly at his vivid memory.

"It really is incredible, Tempe. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was holding you for the first time, and now you're a grown woman, and you have your own baby. I missed too much of your life, and I'm sorry."

"I would rather not talk about that right now," she lowered her voice, her smile fading.

"I know, I know you don't want to think about it right now, when this is such a happy time, but I just want to make sure you know how sorry I am."

"I am aware, Max. You've apologized before."

Brennan looked down at her hands, feeling uncomfortable all of the sudden, just wanting her husband and her baby to come back. And almost as if on cue, her door opened, and her husband was back, but there was no baby in his arms.

"Hiya, Max," Booth's voice was cheerful when he spoke.

"Hey," Max's voice was just as light as he patted his son-in-law's shoulder proudly, "congratulations, dad. Where's Baby Booth?"

"A few doctors are checking him out now, and then they're gonna put him in the nursery to sleep for a while," Booth told him, "sorry, Max. If I knew you were here I would have made sure you got a chance to hold him before they put him to sleep."

Brennan sat up a little at his words.

"Why are there doctors checking him out?" She asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"They're just checking him out to make sure everything's going well," Booth assured her, taking his place next to her so he could touch her shoulder comfortingly.

"There has to be a reason that they wanted to look at him," she looked up at him, glancing from his hand to his face.

"Well he was sneezing a lot," he paused when he saw her eyes become panic stricken, continuing quickly, "so I asked a doctor about it and he said it was normal. They just have to check on him every so often for precautions. There's nothing wrong with him, Bones, I promise."

"Okay," she reluctantly accepted his explanation.

There was only a short silence in the room before Max spoke again.

"Well I'm gonna go see if he's in the nursery yet so I can at least look at him," he told the new parents, before leaving the room, leaving the two of them alone for the first time since Christian was born only a few hours prior.

Even though Booth had assured her that Christian's sneezing was normal, and that the only reason the doctors were looking at him was because he was a newborn, and needed to be checked on regularly, she still couldn't help but worry. She knew Booth would say it was her maternal instincts that made her so concerned.

"Booth?"

"Bones?"

"Can you get me my laptop and then come and lay next to me?"

"Sure. Of course."

Booth did as she asked and retrieved her laptop from where she had it set on one of the chairs, handing it to her as she moved over to make space for him. He got into the small bed with her, shifting uncomfortably, since his space was limited.

"Ouch, Booth, you're lying on my arm," she complained, wiggling her arm out from under his back so she could open her laptop.

"Sorry," he apologized, "I don't really have much room to work with here though."

"I know. And I'm the one who asked you to come up here after all," she shrugged, "I wasn't scolding you, I was just speaking aloud."

"It sounded kind of scold-y to me," he mumbled, resting his head against her shoulder as she pulled up a search engine and began to type.

When he saw the words 'newborn sneezing' appear in the search bar as she typed, he quickly closed her laptop, making sure her fingers were off the keys before he did.

"Excuse me, I was in the middle of something," she looked up at him in shock.

"Stop," he said, seriously, looking into her eyes so she knew he wasn't playing around, "you're freaking yourself out for no reason. If it wasn't normal, the doctor wouldn't have told me it was. You don't have to start looking things up that are going to scare you, since you know people post stories about freak medical complications on the internet all the time. Christian is fine. You don't need a search engine to tell you that."

"I guess you're right," she agreed, looking down at the closed computer on her lap, "I just worry about him. I guess because he wasn't crying when he came out," she sighed, pushing her hand through her hair in frustration, "I don't want to be one of those new mothers who is constantly worrying. I just want to enjoy being a parent."

"You'll be a great mom, Bones," he assured her, smiling when she turned her head to look at him, "there's nothing wrong with being concerned. It's normal," he kissed her head softly, "the only reason he wasn't crying is because he's stubborn. It had nothing to do with his health, the doctor promised."

"Stubborn," Brennan pondered the word with a small smile, "like his father."

"Me?" Booth laughed, "I'd say he's stubborn like _you_."

Brennan was the one to laugh this time, running her thumb affectionately over his wedding band.

"I disagree. You are far more stubborn than I am," she told her husband, looking up at him with a small smile, "and the fact that you won't admit it just proves my point."

"I won't admit it because it's not true. Incase you forgot, I'm not a liar, Temperance Brennan, and I didn't think you wanted me to be."

"Oh please, Booth, you can be so-"

A knock on the door of her room interrupted her thoughts, as she turned her attention from her husband to the source of the soft sound.

"Why is it all of the sudden like some sort of party in here?" She grumbled rhetorically, more to herself than to Booth.

"Maybe it's Angela," he told her, his fingers running through her tangled hair.

With a small sigh, Brennan called for the person at the door to come in, feeling her husband immediately sit up straight and stop the constant motion of his hand through her hair when he saw who entered the room. It always amused her how Deputy Director Cullen was the only person that could make Booth sit up straight and wear a serious expression, even outside the workplace.

"Sir," Booth nearly choked on the air he was breathing in when his boss entered the room, "I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah, I was wondering why three of my best agents just disappeared, so I called Sully and he informed me that Doctor Brennan here had her baby," Cullen seemed much more relaxed outside of the FBI building, speaking to Brennan and Booth as if they were his equals, and not people who worked for him, "congratulations, you two."

"Thank you," Brennan said, surprised by how polite he was being, since he didn't necessarily like her.

"How does it feel, Booth?" He asked, "Is it as exciting the second time around?"

"Just as exciting," Booth assured him, "except I didn't sneak off base to come hold my newborn son this time, so I'm a little more relaxed."

Cullen laughed half-heartedly, trying not to notice the sympathetic smile Booth was wearing. Amy was his only child, and she was gone. Booth was surprised that he was holding himself together, and not letting the memories of his late daughter upset him.

"There's something I came here to do, and I'm doing it for Amy," he started, seeing the two of them look at him with sympathy in their eyes, "you two are happy together. I can see it all over both of you. And, you may not know this, but the day you told me about your relationship was the one year anniversary of Amy's death," he seemed like he was having a hard time getting that last word out.

"We're sorry," Brennan said softly, glancing at Booth, as if she was trying to make sure that she was saying the right thing, "we had no idea."

"I know you didn't, and the way I reacted was out of line," he paused, noticing that they shared a mutual look of confusion now, "the two of you were good to her. You did everything in your power to help her. And Booth," he laughed lightly, "she loved you. You were her favorite of all the people who work for me. My wife swore she had a teenage girl crush on you."

Booth laughed lightly, the thought of Amy, who had her life taken away from her way too soon, causing him to feel a sense of sorrow. She was such a sweet kid, and what happened to her wasn't fair.

"But, anyway, I know Amy would be disappointed in me for the way I've been acting. She was a strong believer in love, and she would be upset at me for splitting the two of you up because you found happiness with each other," he paused, seeing that they still weren't putting the pieces together, "so how would the two of you feel about working together again when Doctor Brennan here comes back to work?"

When she heard the words, Brennan's eyes lit up, and she smiled, turning to look at her husband, who looked just as happy and excited as she did.

"Yes," her overjoyed response came out as a small laugh, "yes, of course we would like to work together again."

"I figured that would be your answer, but I knew you were getting close with Ricky and all, so I wasn't positive."

Brennan's smile faded a bit when he reminded her of Ricky.

"Ricky," there was less excitement in her voice when she spoke again, "how am I going to tell Ricky? He'll think I don't want to work with him anymore because of him."

"Well just tell him that Cullen gave you permission to work with me again," Booth told her, "I'm sure he'll understand."

"I'll leave you two alone to talk about it," Cullen opened the door, ready to leave and give them their privacy, "whatever you choose, just come talk to me about it when you come back to work, Doctor Brennan."

"I will, and thank you, Director Cullen."

After he left, she looked at her husband again, seeing that he looked slightly annoyed.

"What?" She asked.

"Bones, I didn't think this would even need discussing," he admitted, "we can work together again, the way we should be. And you don't want to?"

"Of course I want to, Booth, I'm just committed to Ricky at this point. What am I supposed to do? Just completely abandon him so I can work with you again?"

_Committed_. Hearing that she was 'committed' to Ricky stung.

"Yes," he sounded sincerely hurt when he spoke, unable to believe that she was going to choose Ricky over him, "I thought you liked working with me?"

"I do," she paused, feeling guilty when she saw how immensely let down he looked, "I did. But I have a new partner now, and he likes working with me," she paused, seeing that the more she spoke, the more she was hurting him, "and, I love you, Booth. We're married. We already spend a lot of time together. Maybe...we don't have to work together."

"I can't believe this," he murmured.

"I don't like seeing you upset," she whispered in response, wanting anything but to upset him at the moment.

Booth wanted to tell her that it was a little late for that, that he was already upset, but decided against it. Instead, he just got out of the cramped hospital bed without looking at her.

"Booth, I'm sorry," she tried, "I didn't mean to-"

Her words were cut short when the door to her room opened and shut quickly. She didn't bother to finish her thought, since, after the door closed loudly, she was left in the room alone.


	21. We Took An Oath, Temperance

**A/N: Yay, two days in a row I updated. xD This chapter actually came very easily to me. I also apologize in advanced, because it's kind of short, but I wanted to save them bringing home the baby for its own chapter. I'm pretty excited to write that one. =] Thank you everyone for your feedback as well. I love to read your thoughts. **

Chapter Twenty-One:

"We Took An Oath, Temperance"

Booth wasn't coming back. She realized that after he was gone for forty-five minutes and she was lying alone in her hospital room, just looking at the walls. It was about an hour after he left when Angela came in, and Brennan had to force a smile, pretending everything was all right. When her friend asked where her husband was, she simply laughed and said he stepped out for a while, which wasn't completely false. He did step out, but it wasn't a laughing matter. And she had absolutely no idea where he went.

After Angela talked to her for a little while, she looked at her watch and realized it was late, and that she and Hodgins were going to head home for the night. Brennan waited another fifteen minutes after Angela left for her husband, who still didn't show. She had really upset him, and she wanted to apologize, but how could she when he left and wouldn't come back?

Feeling alone, Brennan turned over onto her side, closing her eyes, able to feel tears burning behind her closed eyelids. She wanted Christian, but he was sleeping in the nursery, and she wanted her husband, but he was mad at her. She wanted to go back and not say what she said about being committed to her partnership with Ricky. She wanted to work with Booth, but she didn't want to hurt Ricky's feelings by breaking off their partnership. If only she wasn't so socially awkward, she would have worded that the way she wanted to. She knew she should have never used the word 'committed'. That was what hurt her husband the most. When there was a knock on the door, she quickly dried her tears, sniffing before she answered.

"Come in," she called to them, sitting up and wiping her eyes so, when her guest came in, they wouldn't know that she had just been crying.

Booth stepped inside, for the first time in almost two and a half hours, a forced half smile on his face and a hand behind his back. He was no longer in his suit. He was now in a t-shirt and jeans, which made her come to the conclusion that he had gone home to cool off after the partnership incident.

"Hi," his voice was soft, his half smile charming.

"Hi," her voice was just slightly softer than his when she spoke back.

Booth approached her bed, his hand still behind his back.

"I've got something for you," he revealed the item he was hiding, handing her the zebra he had gotten Christian for Christmas.

Brennan reluctantly took the zebra from his hand, placing it next to her on the bed.

"Thank you," she thanked him quietly.

He smiled at her, but she could tell it was not genuine, and she tried her best to smile back, curious to know if they were going to address what just happened, or if they were just going to let it go.

"So," Brennan finally spoke again after a few minutes of silence, "are we going to...talk about this?"

"Yeah," Booth said softly, taking her hand in his, "I know you're tired, and worn out from everything that's happened today, but we need to have a serious discussion."

The words 'serious discussion' didn't fail to make her nervous, especially when he was acting so serious, his tone dark, and his face not lit up in it's normal, Booth-y way.

"Okay," she urged him to start with the single word.

"Bones," he started, looking down at their intertwined hands as he spoke, taking a deep sigh before he continued, "I love you-"

"I love you too," she cut him off to assure him of that fact.

"I know," he promised, "I know you do, but things haven't really been good between us lately. There's no denying that."

He could see Brennan shake her head out of the corner of his eye, looking up from their hands to find her looking at him intently.

"Booth-"

"Please don't argue with me, Bones, we both know it," he said, seriously, knowing she was about to spew a million reasons why things were fine, "and there's been something on my mind for a while now, and I think it's time we talked about it."

Brennan furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Are you breaking up with me?" She asked softly.

"No," he said quickly, with a small, nervous laugh, "God, of course not, Bones. We're married, and you just had a baby, and I _do_ love you. There's just something I need to know, and I need you to be one hundred percent honest with me."

"Always," she promised, "I'm always completely honest with you," she touched his forearm gently with her free hand, the one that wasn't holding his, urging him to speak his mind, "go ahead, Booth. We've been together for a year now. You should know nothing you say is going to make me run."

Booth sighed, placing his hand over hers.

"I," he paused, unsure of how he wanted to word this, "I need to know if you have feelings for Ricky."

"What?" She asked, completely shocked by the question.

"I just need a yes or no answer," he told her, making sure that she didn't try to change the subject in order to avoid the question, or start to explain herself in full detail, "do you have romantic feelings for Ricky?"

"No," she assured him, "I don't. Ricky and I are just friends. We're just partners."

"The same way we were 'just partners'?" Booth had to ask the question, knowing that, before they were together, 'partners' was the word they always used to cover up their feelings.

When the feelings would become to strong, they hid behind that word, because having feelings for each other was not okay. Being partners was. And Booth couldn't help but fear that maybe she was now hiding from her feelings for Ricky behind that very same word. Because, again, having feelings for him was not okay. Not when she was married and had a baby.

"No," her voice was pleading, "Booth, please, look at me," she waited until they were making eye contact before she continued, "I do not have romantic feelings for Ricky Hernandez. I love you, and you're the only person I want to be with. Ricky is kind, and he's a good friend, but you are so much more than that. You're my _best_ friend, and my husband, and the father of my child. I could never feel for Ricky the way I feel for you."

There was a long pause between them as Booth just looked at her with love and admiration in his eyes.

"Do you believe me?" She asked.

"Yes," he promised, leaning down to capture her lips in a gentle kiss, kissing her softly for only a few seconds before he asked his next question, "I believe you, Bones, but there's one more thing I have to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"I still need you to be honest though, okay?"

"Okay."

"Even though you don't have feelings for Ricky...do you think he has feelings for you?"

Brennan's knee-jerk response was going to be 'no'. She wanted to defend her partner, and swear to her husband that Ricky was only nice to her because he was a good friend. But she promised him honesty, and that was what she was going to give to him.

"I think," she paused, looking up into his eyes once again, "I think...he might."

"You do?" Booth asked, not expecting that response to come from her.

"Yes," Brennan sounded slightly ashamed, "Angela says he does...and he is very kind, and, truth be told, he flirts a little. I think he may have feelings for me, but I don't think they are serious. And I don't think he would ever try anything," she paused, "he has too much respect for me to do that. He knows I'm happy with you."

"Are you?" He asked, "Are you completely happy and satisfied... _just_ being with me?"

"Booth," she laughed lightly at the ridiculous question, "yes," she moved her hand to stroke the side of his face gently, "I am one hundred percent satisfied with you. I know I've made my comments about monogamy, and how there is no way that one person can satisfy all of my needs, but I am comfortable admitting that you proved me wrong on that subject."

He finally smiled fully for the first time since he entered the room, causing her to smile as well.

"Yeah?" He laughed lightly, "Did you just say I was right?"

"I believe I did," she smiled, running her fingers gently through his hair, sitting up as much as she could in order to kiss his cheek, "I love _you_, Seeley Booth. You are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. That is why I married you."

Booth smiled and kissed her again, having this conversation making both of them feel like there was a huge weight lifted off their shoulders.

"Bones, I have to be honest," he tucked her hair behind her ear when he spoke to her, "I know you said you wouldn't mind if I cheated on you, but, if you cheated on me, I would mind."

"Well then good thing I have no desire to cheat on you," she told him honestly, "and if I am going to be completely honest, I'll tell you that, despite what I said a few weeks ago, I think if you actually _did _cheat on me, I would care," she smiled when he laughed, "I wouldn't be able to help it. I feel...very possessive of you."

"Well I am your husband," he reminded her, "I'm pretty much your property."

Brennan simply smiled and pulled him into a tight hug by the shoulders, burying her face into the crook of his neck. She felt his hands move to stroke her back gently while they hugged, her cheek pressing against his shoulder as she sighed.

"I didn't know if you were going to come back after you left," she admitted.

"I'll always come back," he assured her, kissing her temple softly, "no matter what. I would never leave you like that."

Brennan closed her eyes to keep the sudden tears from escaping, lowering her voice.

"Please don't ever walk out on me like that again," she whispered, holding him close, whispering into his ear, "please."

"I'm sorry," he whispered back, "I was upset, but I shouldn't have done that," he put a finger under her chin, tilting her head up so he could look at her face, which now had a few tears trickling down her cheeks, "I will never walk out on you, Bones," he promised, looking her in the eyes as he wiped away her tears, "ever. Do you understand me? I'm never going to abandon you. We took an oath, Temperance. 'As long as we both shall live'."

Brennan nodded in agreement, feeling him let go of her, only to take her hands in his.

"Do you remember what we said to each other that night? When we exchanged rings?" He didn't wait for a response before he continued, "I offer you my hand and my heart, for I know they will be safe with you..."

"All that I am, I give to you, and all that I have, I share with you," she finished for him, cupping his cheek affectionately in her palm, "as long as we both shall live, Booth," she leaned up to kiss him softly, "I love you. You're the only man I have ever loved. Ricky Hernandez doesn't hold a match to you."

"Candle," Booth corrected her, with a small laugh, "but I got the gist. And I love you too, Temperance. Every single part of you. Even the parts that piss me off."

Brennan tugged him down once again so their lips could meet in a gentle kiss, their lips parting against one another's, their tongues tangling just the way she liked it, and she knew that there would never be another man that she wanted to kiss like this. She could only hope that Booth understood that, and had no more doubts.


	22. Your Father Is Pretty Incredible

**A/N: I'm so sorry that it took so long for me to update. I think I left my muse in Ireland. xD I've had been writing tiny pieces throughout the week, and then last night I decided it was time to buckle down and finish. xD I know the last few chapters have been a little shorter, but I'm hoping my muse comes back so I can make the next chapter a little longer again.**

Chapter Twenty-Two:

"Your Father Is Pretty Incredible"

Both of them mentally groaned when crying came in over the baby monitor for, what felt like, the twentieth time that night. It was only the first night that they had Christian home, and he was certainly giving them a preview of what was going to be coming for the next few months. When Brennan went to sit up, Booth pressed his palm gently to her chest, keeping her down, since he saw that it was already five thirty, and knew he didn't have time to go back to sleep now anyway.

"I'll get him," he volunteered, in a sleep ridden voice.

"No, it's fine," Brennan assured him, rubbing her eyes weakly with the back of her hand, "it's my turn to get him anyway."

"You're actually keeping track of that?" He asked, keeping his hand on her shoulder when he sat up, making sure that she wasn't making any moves to get up as well.

"Of course. I thought you were too," she told him.

Booth laughed weakly, too tired to fully laugh, as he brushed a hand through her hair.

"It's okay, Bones, really. You need your sleep."

Brennan made a small noise when he leaned down to kiss the bridge of her nose softly before getting out of bed, fixing the covers for her before he made his way to the source of the crying. When he flicked the light on in the nursery, he winced at the sudden brightness, lifting the newborn out of his crib and holding him close to his chest.

"Come here, buddy," he murmured to the baby, whose crying seemed to settle a bit once he was in his father's arms, "I fed you a half an hour ago, so you're not hungry, and your diaper is clean, so now you just want attention."

Christian looked up at him, as if he was confirming Booth's suspicions of him just wanting attention at the moment.

"Daddy's gonna get a pot of coffee started, but then I've gotta put you down to drink it," he told the baby, who he knew had no idea what he was talking about, "hopefully you'll be sleeping again by then so you don't cry and wake mama up."

It felt nice to be able to talk to the baby and look at him at the same time. For so many months he had rested his head against his wife's stomach and spoke seemingly to himself. He had to admit, it felt better to _know_ that someone was actually listening, instead of just having to imagine that they were, even if the baby didn't understand exactly what he was saying.

"Good morning, dad," the voice of his older son startled him when he left the baby's room, too groggy to remember that Parker had spent the night.

"Morning, bub," he said, with a small smile, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It wasn't you. I woke up when Christian was crying and I can't fall back asleep," he shrugged.

"Change your mind about staying with us?" Booth asked, with a small laugh.

"No," Parker assured him, "I got enough sleep. And mom said I can stay with you guys until Tuesday night if it's okay with you."

"How are you gonna get to school?"

"She said I could take a couple days off to help you and Bones with the baby. I was only out of school once so far, so she said I could miss some days."

"Well that was very nice of mom, because Bones will need some help while I'm at work," he rubbed Christian's back gently as he spoke, "when I leave, it's your job to listen to Bones and help her with stuff around the house if she's busy with the baby," he paused, waiting for his son to nod understandingly before he continued, "and no funny business, okay?"

"Dad," Parker whined when his dad gave him the serious warning.

"I'm serious," Booth kept his tone stern but not scolding, "things are going to be hectic around here today. If Bones asks you to do something don't argue with her, just do it. I don't want to have her telling me that you were being a pain in the neck when I get home."

"I always listen to Bones."

"But you don't always listen to me, especially when you don't get enough sleep," he half smiled when he realized that he may have been being just a little too stern, worrying about things that didn't happen yet, "I'm not trying to say you _will_ be a pain, I'm just making sure you don't try anything. Now I know Bones isn't your mother, but she's in charge of you today, and you know she's not a pushover. If you try to pull one over on her, she'll know."

"Okay, dad," Parker rolled his eyes, watching as the infant squirmed in his father's arms, Booth's hand stroking his back, attempting to calm him down, "can I hold him?"

Booth was too busy whispering to the baby to hear the exact words coming from his older son's mouth.

"Hm?"

"Can I hold Christian while you make your coffee?"

"Yeah, sure, of course," he couldn't help but to smile, glad that his son was not feeling like he had to compete with the baby, and wanted to bond with his new little brother.

Parker held his arms out to accept the baby, feeling just slightly uncomfortable when he squirmed in his arms.

"He's a little fussy, so make sure you hold him close so he doesn't fall," Booth instructed him, taking his hand to move it to the back of Christian's skull, "and make sure you support his head, like this."

Once he was all situated, Booth left his two sons on the couch, going the short distance into the kitchen to get a pot of coffee started.

"Why is he moving so much?" Parker asked, "does he not like me or something?"

"No," Booth laughed lightly, "he was getting fussy with me too, it has nothing to do with you. Do you want me to put him back in the crib?"

"No, I can do it," he assured him, rocking the baby gently and awkwardly, "he's closing his eyes, dad."

"See? He likes you. He just needed a few minutes to relax."

Parker smiled as he watched the newborn start to drift back into a deep sleep.

"Does he dream?" He asked.

"Sure," Booth shrugged, not one hundred percent certain of the fact, but assuming that he was correct.

"What do you think he dreams about?"

"I don't know, Parker, I'm not a scientist," he laughed lightly.

"Bones is a scientist," he reminded his father innocently, "does she know?"

"Maybe. Why don't you try asking her when she wakes up?"

"Okay," satisfying Parker was so easy sometimes, "I will."

* * *

><p>"Bones?" Booth touched his sleeping wife's shoulder, feeling her shift when he did, "Hey, sorry for waking you up, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving. Chris is sleeping in the crib and Parker's having a bowl of cereal."<p>

"Kay," she murmured sleepily, her eyes fluttering only halfway open, choosing not to turn around to face him.

"Don't hesitate to ask Parker for help if you need it," he told her, stroking her hair gently as he spoke to her, "and if you need anything, call me."

"Kay," she answered with the small word once again, covering her mouth to yawn.

"Are you listening?" He asked, having a feeling that she was just saying 'okay' and not really processing his words, since she was still half asleep.

"Yes," her voice had a twinge of annoyance to it as she turned herself around to look at him with sleepy eyes, "ask Parker for help if I need it, and if it's something he's incapable of doing, call and distract you from your paperwork."

Booth had to smile, leaning down to kiss her softly.

"That's my girl," he praised her, running his thumb over her cheekbone as he leaned down to kiss her again, "I love you, baby. Don't hesitate to call, okay?"

"I won't call if you keep calling me baby," she warned playfully, "and then you'll actually have to do your work."

"Well we wouldn't want that happening, now would we?" He laughed.

Brennan smiled and brushed a piece of lint off his suit jacket. Even though she wouldn't say it to him, she hated the thought of having to remain at home with the kids like a stay-at-home mother while he went out and worked, even if it was only for a month or so. It made her feel like she wasn't contributing, like she was now Temperance Brennan, Seeley Booth's wife and mother of his child, rather than Temperance Brennan, world renowned anthropologist and best selling author, and the feeling was one she was not fond of.

"You thinking about something, Bones?" He asked, seeing that her eyes were glazed over, as if she was deep in thought.

"No," she shook her head, the smile returning to her face when he kissed her for a third time that morning, letting his lips linger on hers a little longer that time, until she separated them, "have a nice day. I'll speak with you later."

Booth had to laugh at her domestic way of sending him off.

"You forgot to hand me my lunch and tell me to be a good boy."

Brennan pushed on his shoulder, laughing when he broke the affectionate feel of the room with his sarcastic comment.

"Goodbye, Booth," she laughed, seeing him turn to look at her over his shoulder once more before he left the room.

* * *

><p>Brennan sat next to Parker on the couch as he held his little sibling, watching the baby's face as he attempted to feed him.<p>

"How do I know if he's still hungry?" He asked, wanting to make sure that he was doing everything correctly.

"He'll stop eating when he's full," Brennan told him, fixing the baby's blanket for him, since she knew Parker's hands were full, "he'll take his mouth away from the bottle, and some milk will probably dribble. I'll wipe it up."

Parker struggled to keep Christian's head propped up as he fed him. When he started to get full, he grew restless, pulling his mouth away from the nipple of the bottle as he whined, squirming when Parker tried to console him.

"I don't think he likes me," Parker concluded, as Brennan wiped the excess milk from the baby's face, "he always cries when I'm holding him. He doesn't cry when you hold him."

"He's just attached to me because I'm his mother," Brennan shrugged, accepting Christian into her arms when Parker handed him to her, "he grew inside me for nine months. He's not used to all these different people handling him. Everything is much different for him now than it was three days ago, so he needs to adjust."

Parker nodded in agreement, but couldn't help but notice how the baby relaxed as soon as he was back in his mother's arms.

"Mom is letting me stay with you and dad to help with the baby," he told her, "even though I don't know if I'll be able to help that much, since he doesn't like me."

"He'll get used to you the more he sees you," she assured him, "and your mom is a kind woman."

"Yeah, she's nice," Parker agreed, "sometimes she yells at me, but dad says it's only because she loves me," he paused, watching his step mother rock her newborn to sleep, "what was your mom like? Your dad is nice. I like him, but I've never met your mom. Is she nice too?"

Brennan tensed up a bit at the question, trying to keep her mind focused on the baby and not her deceased mother. She glanced over at Parker, seeing that he was looking at her, as if he was waiting for an answer.

"I don't really remember much about my mother," her voice was quiet and uncomfortable, although she was trying not to let it show.

"Why not?" Parker asked, seeming like he wasn't planning on letting this go.

"She passed away when I was young," Brennan explained to him, "my memories of her are very vague."

"Oh," he felt bad for bringing it up, since it seemed to upset her, "was she nice from what you can remember?"

"Yeah," she laughed lightly, standing up with the baby so she could burp him, "she was nice. I remember she used to tuck me in every night before bed, kiss me on the forehead, and tell me that she loved me. My father says I'm just like her, but I don't remember enough about her to dictate whether or not I agree."

"Well if she was like you then she was nice," Parker told her, with a big smile.

Brennan laughed lightly, flattered by the compliment.

"Some people would disagree," she told him, propping the baby up onto her shoulder once her shirt was covered with the cloth.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because some people think I'm cold," her smile faded a bit.

"You've always been nice to me," Parker shrugged casually, as if it was that simple, "and my dad likes you, so I like you too. My dad is in a better mood lately. Mom says it's because he's happy with his life, since he has you and the baby, but I think it's because he gets sexed up now."

Brennan laughed, taken by surprise when he blurted the words out.

"Maybe it's a little bit of both," she suggested.

"Maybe," Parker agreed, taking a long pause before he spoke again, "I'm sorry I brought up your mom."

"It's okay," she smiled warmly, patting Christian's back gently, "your father thinks it's good to remember the times I shared with her. He believes it's therapeutic."

"I don't know what that word means, but my dad is smart, so he's probably right."

"Yeah," Brennan agreed, with a light laugh, "your father is pretty incredible."


	23. I'm So Selfish

**A/N: New chapter. =] I would talk, like I usually do in A/Ns, but I'm very tired. It's two in the morning here, but I can't sleep, so I decided to finish this chapter. Hopefully now I can catch some shut eye. xD**

Chapter Twenty-Three:

"I'm So Selfish"

"Booth, you're being alpha male-ish," Brennan scolded her husband over the phone, as he leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes in frustration, and squeezed his stress ball, "I told you I'd call if I needed anything. You don't have to 'check up on me'. If I was having any difficulty, I would have called you."

Who knew that an innocent call to check up on her, her first day home with her first newborn baby, was going to turn into a lecture?

"Do you want me to come home?" He asked, quickly correcting himself, since he knew the question was going to set her off, "Not because I think you can't handle it, but because you sound like you need your sleep."

"No," she said, sternly, "you have a job. An important job. You don't need to come home because I need to sleep. That's just ridiculous. I'll sleep when you get home."

"That won't be until later," he paused, giving her a minute to process his words.

"It doesn't matter. I don't need help, Booth, I can do this. You don't have to fuss over me like I'm some sort of invalid."

"Alright, fine, I won't call again," there was a lingering silence on the other end of the line, and he assumed she was just being quiet in order to avoid snapping at him, "all I'm saying is-"

He stopped when he heard the dial tone, figuring out that she wasn't being silent, she had just simply hung up on him.

"Fine. You know what? You're right. I'm a terrible person for caring. Maybe I'll just stay out late tonight to show you how much you really _do_ need my help."

Booth knew he was yelling into the phone when there was nobody on the other end, but, somehow it made him feel better, as he slammed it shut and placed it on his desk. He huffed, putting his head in his hands, until he heard a knock on the door.

"It's open," he called to them.

"Hey, I...heard yelling and wanted to make sure you weren't getting murdered," Payton Perotta had a look of confusion on her face when she stepped into her colleague's office.

Booth laughed weakly, picking his head up to look at her.

"Nope, everything's fine," he assured her, straightening up at bit, "just a little quarrel with my wife, that's all."

"Sounded like more than a little quarrel," she laughed lightly, "are you sure everything's okay?"

"Everything's fine, we're just both a little on edge today because neither of us got any sleep last night."

"Oh, I almost forgot, how's the new baby?" She asked, stepping inside and closing the door behind her.

"Fussy. But they all are."

Perotta laughed and nodded in agreement.

"My sister said the same thing when her daughter was a newborn. Her daughter's two now, and she's a lot calmer, though she's a bit of a brat. Every time I go over there I get my hair pulled at least three times."

"Well hopefully Chris doesn't pull everyone's hair too," he laughed as well, "so I'm guessing you don't want kids."

"No, I might. Eventually. But, really, not anytime soon. Plus the whole pregnancy and giving birth thing doesn't seem too 'beautiful' the way people say it is. It seems painful and irritating," she paused, taking a minute to think, "maybe I'll adopt."

"I bet you'll change your mind."

"And what makes you think that, Agent Booth?"

"I just know, Agent Perotta," his smile was cocky, as he addressed her the same way she addressed him, "I know how people operate. And, besides, I can tell by the look on your face that you're well on your way to changing your mind."

"It's almost like you can see the future."

"I pretty much can. You're readable."

"And somehow, I feel like you didn't mean that in a complimentary way."

"Oh, of course I did," he smiled charmingly, seeing her roll her eyes playfully to the ceiling before she opened the door.

"Sully and I are grabbing a few drinks tonight if you want to join," she offered, "I know you're busy at home, but I figured I'd give you the option."

"Great," he kept the charming smile on his face, "I'll be there. Not like Bones wants me at home anyway. I think she might wind up kicking me out of my own apartment."

"That's what happens when you get married," she laughed lightly, "the sex becomes boring and you drive each other absolutely crazy."

"Well, the sex isn't boring, and we've always driven each other crazy. What we really need is sleep. You'll know the feeling when you get married and decide that you want kids, the way I know you will," he laughed and spoke again before she could leave, causing her to look at him over her shoulder, "you look good, Payton."

"You always look good, Seeley," she complimented him back, before leaving and closing the door behind her.

* * *

><p>"Christian, you're beginning to drive me insane," Brennan sighed as she took him out of the crib and rocked him gently to ease his screaming.<p>

She knew it seemed horrible, but she didn't know how she was going to deal with this for months. The baby screamed constantly, sometimes for a particular reason, and sometimes just because he wanted to be held. It felt like he never slept, and she was beginning to grow impatient waiting for her husband to return from work.

"Booth, where the hell are you?" She grumbled to herself as she hushed the baby and rocked him in her arms.

It was already late. Late enough that Parker was asleep on the couch and all the lights were turned off, and there was still no sign of Booth. As if on cue, she heard the door open, keys rattling as it closed in a not very quiet fashion behind him. Supporting the baby's back, she rushed out to the front door, waiting until he put his gun away before she spoke, not wanting to startle him when he was holding a firearm.

"Booth! Shh!" Her voice was in a scolding whisper, "Parker's asleep three feet away."

"Sorry, baby. I-"

"Please, lower your voice," she stepped closer to him, pressing her finger to his lips, "you're being very noisy," she took a deep breath in through her nose when she caught a quick whiff of something that smelled like scotch, "Booth, are you drunk?"

"I...I'm a little buzzed," he admitted, with a small laugh, as Brennan immediately pressed her finger to his lips again, seeing that he was having trouble controlling his volume, "I stopped out to have a few drinks with Sully and Perotta."

"And left me home alone with a newborn?" She took her hand away from his face and placed it on her hip, "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"It's midnight, and you didn't want me here. You said-"

"Seeley, I'm begging you, lower your voice. You're going to wake Parker up."

"You said you could handle it. You said you didn't want my help," he finally lowered his voice to a whisper the way she had been asking him to, "I'm not going to come back here where I'm not wanted and, apparently, not needed."

"You know I didn't mean it," she softened her tone a little bit, reaching up to touch his cheek gently, "I'm sorry if you felt like I didn't want you here."

"It's not a matter of what I felt, Bones, it's a matter of what was," he told her, taking Christian when she offered him to him, "you _didn't_ want me here. And you said it like I was some sort of burden to you."

"I'm sorry that I upset you, Booth," she said, sincerely, placing her hand back on his cheek, "I'm just...exhausted, and I'm not feeling myself today."

"Wait a sec, babe," he said, pushing her hand gently off his cheek before he left the room.

Brennan was confused as to where he was going, but figured it out when he went into the nursery and came out empty handed before he made his way back to her. He was the one to touch her cheek this time, since Christian was back in the crib and their hands were free.

"Are you...sad? Because I don't know too much about postpartum depression, but-"

"I'm not depressed, I'm just thinking about how much our lives are going to change, and I'm, admittedly, getting scared. I guess it didn't hit me until he came home, but things aren't going to ever be the same, and I don't want that to change things between us," Booth could see that the more she spoke, the more she was freaking herself out, "I just...I love you so much, and I don't want having a baby to tear us ap-"

Booth kissed her gently, silencing her.

"Shh," he hushed her softly, "stop. Having Christian is not going to tear us apart. And I don't want you talking that way."

"I'm so selfish," she turned her head so she was no longer looking at him, "I just had a baby, and all I care about is myself, and how having to care for someone is going to make my life so much harder," she looked at him again, with tears in her eyes, "God, I'm such a terrible mo-"

Booth silenced her once again by kissing her, but he didn't let go of her lips this time. Instead, he cupped her cheek gently, urging her lips apart. When her tongue slipped into his mouth, his taste was covered up by scotch, but she didn't mind. She needed his kiss at the moment. She needed the reassurance. She needed to know that he didn't think she was as terrible as she did at the moment.

"Booth," she gasped when she felt her back hit the wall a little less than gently, causing it to rattle a bit, "careful."

He seemed to ignore her, continuing his assault on her mouth until he heard another voice from a short distance away, starting them both into breaking their lips apart.

"Ew, gross," Parker complained, causing them to turn to look at him, seeing that he was now laying on his stomach, his chin propped up on the arm of the couch, "can't you do that somewhere else?"

"Hey, don't be a wise guy," Booth warned him.

"Well I'm trying to sleep and you two are making out," he reminded them, "at least you have a bedroom. Can't you go in there?"

"Come on," Brennan tugged on her husband's hand, smiling apologetically at her step son, "I'm sorry about that, Parker."

Parker yawned and nodded, laying back down and closing his eyes as Booth pulled his wife into their bedroom, closing the door behind them before pulling her back to him, pressing his lips back against hers. When he laid her down in the center of the mattress, she had to laugh lightly at his enthusiasm.

"Booth," she laughed breathlessly, "is there a gun in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?"

"Mmm, Bones," he laughed in response against her lips, "are you feeling frisky, my naughty little wife?"

"No, I'm not," she smiled against his lips, "not tonight. Chris will probably start crying in ten minutes, and we're not supposed to engage in intercourse yet. Six weeks."

He only responded with a small sound against her lips as he tugged gently on her shirt, urging her to put her arms up so he could remove it.

"Booth, stop," she murmured against his lips, pulling her mouth away from his, only to feel his lips move to kiss her neck, "stop. We can't have sex. Not for another six weeks."

With a groan, Booth rolled over onto his back, placing his arm over his eyes as he caught his breath.

"I'm sorry," she apologized meekly.

"No, no, don't apologize," he assured her, "sex is sex. We don't need it, not right now, at least. I don't want us to do anything that'll hurt you."

"It won't severely hurt me," she laughed lightly, "it'll just be uncomfortable."

"Regardless," he stroked her hair gently, "I love you, and I want you to be comfortable when we make love."

Brennan smiled as she unbuttoned the first button on his shirt.

"Go change," she urged him, "put on something comfortable and go to sleep. You'll feel better once you get some rest, even though you might have a hangover in the morning."

Booth laughed, turning his head to look at her.

"I'm gonna have the worst headache tomorrow morning," he laughed, finally willing to admit that he was more than just 'a little buzzed'.

"Probably," she took her turn at stroking his hair, leaning down to press a soft kiss to his forehead, "but I'll probably be awake with Chris when you wake up, so I'll bring you ibuprofen."

"Hm," he laughed again, closing his eyes at the feeling of her fingers running through his hair, "you're the best."

Brennan stopped stroking his hair when she realized it was putting him to sleep.

"Booth?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind..." she paused, feeling a little embarrassed before she spoke again, "I would like you to stay home to help me tomorrow."

"Of course, baby," he opened his eyes again, a smile on his face, "don't ever be embarrassed to ask me for help. That's what I'm here for. And you know I want to spend more time with Chris. I don't want him to forget who I am while I'm out working."

"He doesn't know who anyone is, Booth," she reminded him.

"He knows you. And he knows me, because I used to talk to him when he was just a teeny tiny little kidney bean in your belly," he poked her stomach gently when he spoke of it.

"Stop," she laughed, swatting his hand away from her stomach, "go change and go to sleep. You are very annoying when you're intoxicated."

"Alright, alright," he stood up slowly, shrugging his jacket off of his shoulders and tossing it to the side before he dug through the drawers to find something to sleep in, "but I need to hop a cold shower before I go to bed. You got me a little excited out in the hallway."

Brennan couldn't help but to laugh at his drunken bluntness.

"Okay. You do that."


	24. Green's a Good Color On You, Bones

**A/N: So I decided to actually finish this chapter today because I'm laying in bed sick with just my laptop and Family Guy reruns on Netflix. (seriously, who gets sick in the middle of the summer? xD Only me.) So, anyway, here you guys go, I hope you enjoy it =]. If you leave me some feedback maybe I'll feel better *wink wink*. **

Chapter Twenty-Four:

"Green's a Good Color On You, Bones"

Brennan waited three weeks before she brought Christian into the lab for the first time. Even though she wasn't working, because she was still on maternity leave, Angela had been begging her to bring him in to visit since the first week he was home. Brennan, however, knew it wouldn't be good to be carting him around when he was only a few days old, so waited until he was closer to a month before she brought him in.

"Oh, look at how big you're getting!" Angela gushed, rushing over to her friend as soon as she stepped through the doors with the baby in his car seat, "oh, my little man is growing up! When do I get to babysit?"

"Not yet, Ange, he barely wants to be away from Booth and I for ten minutes," she motioned for Angela to follow her into her office so she could set him down, "he's not ready to spend the night away from home yet."

"Well he doesn't have to spend the night," Angela laughed lightly as she entered Brennan's office, watching as she set the car seat on her desk and let out a long sigh, "I'll just watch him for a little while so you and Booth can go out to lunch or something. You probably need some alone time, don't you?"

"We're managing."

She wanted to add a 'barely', but decided against it.

"Look at him. He's such an angel," she smiled down at the sleeping baby.

"For now," Brennan's light laugh had a bitter twinge, "when he wakes up and realizes Booth isn't around, he'll start screaming."

"Attached to Studly?"

"Very. I believe he likes Booth better than me. He is much more well behaved with him than he is with me. And I have a feeling that Booth doesn't believe me when he comes home from work and I tell him that he won't stop screaming, because as soon as he picks him up, he's silent."

"You sound annoyed," Angela pointed out, as she lifted Christian out of the car seat and sat on the couch with him, cuddling him close to her chest, "I know you'll probably bite my head off when I suggest this, but do you think maybe you should...talk to someone?"

"Like a shrink?"

"Yes," Angela lowered her voice a bit to make sure she didn't disturb the sleeping newborn, "it's perfectly normal for new mothers to need a psychologist. Things are changing, a lot, and you may just need someone to talk to about that."

"I have friends I can talk to," she told her, "like you, and Booth. And besides, you know I hate psychology."

"How are you and Booth?" Angela had a sympathetic look on her face when she asked the question, "Marriage wise."

"We're fine, Ange," Brennan laughed awkwardly, "Booth and I are fine."

"Just fine?"

"Now you sound like Sweets, reading into everything I say," she huffed lightly, "I did not mean 'fine' in a negative way. I meant 'fine' as in Booth and I are doing well. Admittedly, we are more focused on Christian right now than us, but we're doing okay. We still talk...sometimes, and we've kissed a few times, but our focus is on our newborn, not our relationship."

Brennan stopped, seeing that Angela was giving her a disapproving look.

"That isn't healthy," she told her, "you need to let each other know that, even though you have a baby, you still love each other

"Have you been studying psychology over the past three weeks?"

"No, that's just common knowledge, sweetie," Angela smiled kindly, "so how long until you can ravish each other again?"

"I don't know, I stopped counting," she admitted, with a shrug, "sexual intercourse is just not appealing to me lately. I have zero desire to have sex. Booth, on the other hand, is very...handsy when we lay down to sleep at night. I'm surprised he doesn't have a countdown hanging on our bedroom wall."

"Handsy?"

"You know, he's always...touching me. Caressing me, slipping his hands up my shirt, kissing my cheek, my jawbone, my ear...pretty much anywhere he can reach."

"He loves you, Brennan."

"I believe it's more lust fueled than love fueled," she laughed, "it doesn't really bother me, I just feel bad because I can't give him the release that he clearly needs."

"I'll tell you what," Angela started, "when Booth goes on his lunch break, I'll take Chris for a little while and you can go get something to eat together. Maybe just spending a little alone time together will ease that tension a little bit."

"I might take you up on that. I think we need a little time to just relax and talk to each other without having to think about when Christian is going to start crying," she instinctively reached over to fix the baby's hat, "I'm just not sure. I'm not entirely comfortable leaving him."

"Trust me, you won't even be gone long enough for something bad to happen," she laughed lightly, smiling down at Christian when his eyes fluttered open, "and it's not like you're leaving him with a stranger. Just give me the diaper bag and he can hang out with me for a half hour or so."

"I guess I can do that," Brennan reluctantly agreed, with a small smile.

"Don't worry, Brennan, I'll keep your little guy safe," she tickled his side gently when she spoke of him, "Christian and I are going to have a lot of fun together."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Bones, I'm glad you could make it," Booth smiled charmingly, when he met her in the diner, leaning down to kiss her softly, cupping her cheek gently in his palm.<p>

When he got her text asking him to meet her at the diner for lunch, he was excited, looking forward to having their first family meal at the diner. But when he met up with his wife, he noticed that the baby was nowhere to be found.

"Where's my little tiger?" He asked, sitting across the table from her.

"With Angela. She offered to babysit so we could have lunch together," Brennan explained, with a small laugh, "sorry. I know you're probably disappointed. I think you were looking forward to having lunch with Christian more than me."

Booth laughed and leaned across the table to kiss her cheek.

"Are you kidding me? I don't think I've actually had a conversation with you since the baby was born. It's nice to just look at you, and speak to you at a normal speed, instead of just mumbling something over my shoulder as I leave for work."

"Yes, conversing for a change is actually nice," Brennan agreed, "although I am getting used to the barely audible 'loveyoubye's in the morning after you coo at Christian for ten minutes."

"I do not 'coo' at Christian for ten minutes. And I still kiss you goodbye."

"You peck me on the cheek. That doesn't count."

"I'm sorry, would you like me to stick my tongue in your mouth instead? I figured a kiss on the cheek was an appropriate goodbye kiss."

Brennan had to laugh at the small quarrel. They hadn't bickered in weeks, simply because they had barely spoken and didn't have time, and she was, strangely enough, beginning to miss it. If given the choice, she would choose bickering with her husband over not speaking to him at all any day.

"We live together," she said, simply, "we sleep in the same bed every night."

"Thanks for the update, Bones," Booth laughed, his eyebrow furrowed in confusion.

Brennan took his left hand in hers to look at their matching wedding bands.

"So why do I feel like I haven't seen you in a month?"

"Because you barely have," he reminded her, "the only time we really have quality time is at night, and usually that results in me trying to touch you and you pushing my hand away and telling me to go bathe in ice water."

Brennan laughed at the truth in his words.

"Can I tell you a secret?" She asked.

"Sure."

"I like it when you touch me at night," she admitted, "it reminds me that you love me, even though we don't have much time to spend together. I only ask you to stop because I haven't lost all my baby weight yet, and I feel...unattractive."

"Nah," Booth smiled sweetly, running his thumb over her wedding band, "never. You're always a hot and sexy squint in my eyes, even with a few extra pounds. It's just more to love, baby."

"Is it odd that I'm more annoyed about you calling me 'baby' than the fact that you just called me fat?"

"I didn't call you fat," he brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss it softly, "but enough about that. There's something I want to talk to you about, since we have the time now."

Brennan smiled when he brushed his lips over her knuckles.

"Okay."

"Why don't you want to work with me?" Booth took her other hand when she groaned in irritation, averting her gaze from his eyes to the window next to them, "Come on, Bones, I don't want to start an argument here, I just want an honest answer."

"I already gave you an honest answer," she looked back at him, blue eyes meeting brown, "I told you, I don't want to just abandon Ricky. I feel like it would be wrong to just leave him to work alone so I can go back to working with you."

"I know, I heard your excuse the first time. You're committed to your partnership with Ricky and all that...but now I want to know the _real_ reason you won't work with me."

Why did he have to be so damn good at reading her? How could he have figured out that Ricky wasn't the only reason she was choosing not to go back to working with him? Sure, not wanting to just drop Ricky was a big part of why she didn't want to go back to working with him, but, as he knew, there was more to it than that.

"Promise me you won't be angry," she wanted the assurance before she could tell him the rest of her honest answer.

"Promise."

With a small sigh, she started.

"I need something in my life that doesn't...revolve around you," she started, knowing that she wasn't wording this correctly, as she looked at their intertwined hands, "not that things revolving around you is a bad thing, I just feel like, recently, everything in my life is connected to you. And work is one thing that isn't. Work is the one place where I am still independent."

"Okay," the tranquility in his voice took her by surprised.

She was honestly shocked that he wasn't annoyed, or that she didn't just hurt his feelings the way she did when she first told him she didn't want to work with him.

"Our partnership was one of the best things that ever happened to me, and we were a good team, but now that we're together...now that we're married and have started a family, I feel like working together would just be...too much," she paused, watching him skeptically, "am I making sense? Because you're looking at me as if you're confused."

"No, I'm not confused," he assured her, "I know exactly what you mean."

"Are you upset?" She asked, brushing her thumb across his knuckles.

"No," he laughed, "I understand, Bones. We can't be together 24/7. We can't. We'll wind up wanting to strangle each other. We need that time away from each other."

"Yes, we do," Brennan agreed, "and I feel like if we do spend that time away from each other we won't argue as often."

"Bones, not to burst your bubble, but I don't think three years apart could cure our bickering," he told her, with a small, charming smile.

"When you went away to Minnesota, I missed you, and I thought when you came home we would have a few days of just enjoying each other without any arguing," she laughed at how quickly those plans seemed to disappear, "we had a disagreement the next morning."

"Well we wouldn't be us if we didn't," he let go of her hands when the waitress came over with their lunch, setting their food on the table and offering Booth a smile.

Brennan took notice to how when the waitress asked if they needed anything else, she directed the question more towards her husband than her. This particular waitress always very blatantly flirted with Booth, and it never failed to make Brennan unintentionally jealous. She didn't want to be possessive of him, but the way the perky redhead batted her eyes at him and worried her bottom lip suggestively always bothered her.

"No, we don't need anything else at the moment," Brennan told her sharply, knowing that the jealous tone was coming out a bit when she spoke, "but you can come back when we're finished to drop off the check. We really can't stay too long. We need to pick up our son."

"Oh you have a son? How cute!" The waitress gushed, "You should bring him here."

"Maybe when he's older. He's still an infant," Brennan's tone was cold.

The waitress simply smiled and left them alone. Brennan casually started on her salad, as if that whole encounter wasn't extremely awkward. That waitress had served them several times while Brennan was pregnant, but she knew she must have been too busy staring at Booth to notice. Brennan only looked up when she heard him chuckle.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing, nothing," his laugh died down, "green's a good color on you, Bones," he saw the look of confusion wash over her face as she glanced down at her outfit, which did not have a speck of green on it, "want some soup?"

"What do you mean 'green's a good color on me'?" She asked, ignoring the gesture when he pushed his bowl towards her, "I'm not wearing green."

"I mean you're cute when you're jealous," he chuckled, taking a spoonful of his soup and holding it out to her, keeping his hand underneath the spoon incase it dripped, "come on, try it. It's good."

"I don't want your soup, Booth, and I'm not jealous of the waitress."

"You're not jealous _of_ the waitress, but you got that possessive wife attitude and it was cute," he smiled when she reluctantly ate the spoonful of soup he was offering her, "trust me, I wasn't looking at that waitress for a second. You're much sexier."

"Maybe I'd feel better if she wasn't constantly looking at you like she wants to fornicate."

Booth laughed a genuine, hearty laugh at her word choice.

"I'm used to the ladies giving me that look," he joked, "and I can't even count all of the times guys have looked at you like they wanted to 'fornicate'."

"I have a feeling you're exaggerating a bit," she told him, kissing his hand gently after she took the soup he offered her, "you tend to do that."

"Not this time, Bones," he smiled sweetly at her, "you drive all the guys at the bureau nuts when you come in wearing those pencil skirts and cute tops."

"Well there's only one man in the bureau that I want to drive nuts," she smiled back, reaching across the table to poke his chest playfully, "and that's you."

"Well," he smiled, taking her hand again when she poked him, "you do a damn good job at that."


	25. I've Never Seen You Do That Before

**A/N: Hello. =] I'm proud of myself for getting two out in two days, since lately my muse has abandon me. But I feel like it's coming back now (hopefully) so maybe I'll start posting more frequently again without week long breaks in between. xD**

Chapter Twenty-Five:

"I've Never Seen You Do That Before"

"Yes, you are a cutie," Angela cooed at the baby, laying on her stomach next to him where she had set him on a blanket on the floor for some tummy time, "look at you, Christian. You look like your daddy," she ran her hand over his back, feeling him squirm in response, "you are just adorable!"

Brennan stepped inside Angela's office, her gaze traveling to the floor to find her friend laying on her stomach with her son, laughing and speaking with him, even though he was only responding by looking at her with big brown eyes.

"He likes you," she commented, as Angela sat up, picking Christian up after she was sitting up straight once again, "you're good with him."

"Well I do love him," she kissed the baby's cheek, wiping the lip gloss she left behind off with her thumb afterwards, "he was so good for me. Isn't that right, Christian?"

"He can't answer you," Brennan informed her.

"I know he can't answer me," she laughed as she tickled the baby's stomach, "he's the new love of my life, Brennan," she poked his side gently again, "my husband has nothing on you, Christian Booth. _You're_ my favorite man."

Brennan laughed, watching her best friend and her son bond adoringly.

"I'm not sure Hodgins would be too pleased to hear that," she informed her, watching them intently, knowing that they had to have the discussion at some point or another, "listen, Ange, I know this is a heavy topic, but we need to talk about it."

Angela looked up at her curiously.

"Talk about what?" She asked, her smile fading.

Brennan bit her lip before she started, not directly answering her question.

"If anything were to happen to Booth and I...I would feel comfort in knowing that you and Jack would raise Christian, and that he wouldn't be put up for adoption, or thrown into foster care the way I was when I was a child."

"Sweetie," Angela's tone was scolding, as she covered Christian's ears for him, "bite your tongue. Don't talk about the possibility of something happening to you and Booth in front of the baby. You'll scare him."

"Angela, he has no idea what I'm saying, and this is very important to me," she paused when she realized that she was sounding harsher than she wanted to, "I'm not planning on anything happening to us, but in the event that something does...I need to know that Christian will be with you. I know you and Hodgins will take good care of him if I am unable to do so."

"Of course we will, Brennan. We would never let him go into foster care or go up for adoption. Jack and I would take him in a heartbeat."

"So you are willing to sign legal documents stating that if Booth and I were to have untimely deaths, you would become Christian's legal guardian?"

"Of course, sweetie. I'll sign the papers tomorrow if you want me to."

"Well I would need to draw them up first, but I'm relieved that you are so certain about this," Brennan admitted, "some people would be reluctant to take on such a responsibility."

"Maybe some people, but not me," Angela smiled proudly, "even though I don't think you and Booth are going to die any time soon, it's better to be safe than sorry. I know how much things like that mean to you," she handed the baby up to Brennan when she saw that she looked like she wanted to hold him, standing up next to her afterwards, "you don't want him to have to go through the things you did."

"No, I don't," Brennan confirmed, holding Christian firmly to her chest as she rocked him gently, glad to feel the warm bundle in her arms after all that talk of death, and what would happen to her baby if she spontaneously died, "some of the things that I endured in my childhood, I would never want Christian to ever have to experience," she shuddered lightly when she thought about being locked in the trunk of her foster parents' car, "I know I can't protect him from beyond the grave, but I know you would be able to."

"I would do anything for this kid," Angela assured her, "and there are so many people that would. If anything happened to you and Booth, Christian would be safe. There are a lot of people in your lives that care so much about him."

"I know," Brennan felt as if a weight was lifted off of her shoulders when Angela confirmed what she already knew, making her feel much better about all of this, "I don't doubt that he will be safe with all of you," she laughed bitterly at her thoughts, "and, knowing my father, he would kill ten people before he let my son go into foster care."

"Oh, Bren, give Max a break. He loves you. Parents will go to extreme measures for their children. Just wait until Chris is a teenager, and he starts getting into all kinds of trouble. I'll bet every cent I have that you'll stick your neck out for him."

"What makes you think that Christian is going to get into all kinds of trouble?" Brennan asked, arching an eyebrow curiously at her as she rubbed the infant's back, "Hopefully I am a good enough mother that I can raise a child who will be well behaved."

"All teenagers get into trouble, Bren," she laughed, shaking her head, "he'll get caught making out with some hottie behind the bleachers, or smoking out in the back of the school," she laughed again when she saw the disapproving look she was receiving, "oh, don't give me that look. You know he'll be a stud. Just look at who his father is. And all teenagers take up smoking at one point or another. It isn't avoidable."

"I never smoked," Brennan told her, proudly, "and I would like to think that Christian won't either. And I'm hoping that he is respectful towards women and doesn't take them under the bleachers to have relations the way Booth used to."

Brennan knew that she decided to shut up too late when she saw Angela's eyes light up in amusement. At least she stopped talking before she blurted out the story of how Booth's girlfriend laughed at him when he lost his virginity.

"You're meaning to tell me that Seeley Booth, who's all about intimate connections and making love, used to get nookie under the bleachers?"

"He would not have appreciated me telling you that," Brennan seemed slightly worried when she spoke, "although, he is very hot and cold with that sort of thing. Sometimes he seems to like bragging about his sexual conquests, but sometimes it embarrasses him."

"So that's a yes? You aren't making this up? He told you this?"

"He told me in confidence and I shouldn't have said anything. Just promise me you won't say anything to him about it."

Angela looked disappointed when her friend wanted her promise.

"Oh, come on, Brennan. Do you know how much fun I could have with this?" She laughed lightly, "I should have known Mr. Special Agent Seeley Booth was a serious stud back in highschool. I'm sure all the girls were lining up to ride that stallion-"

"Okay, Angela," Brennan cut her off before she could continue, "if you don't mind, I would rather not think about other women 'riding' my husband."

"Oh right, sorry, sorry," she sounded playfully ashamed, knowing that she got a little too lost in her own thoughts when she blurted that out to her best friend, "Hodgins and I don't mind discussing our love lives before each other, but you and Booth don't do that."

"Well it's not our favorite topic of discussion. We know that we had love lives before each other. I mean, he has a son with another woman, so we can't really avoid it. But the past is the past, and we don't really talk about it too much."

"Even the other stuff? Like your childhoods?"

"Neither of us enjoy talking about our childhoods...especially Booth," Brennan lowered her voice a little when the subject came up, since it was one of her least favorites, "we have, on occasion, but we don't like it. Booth hates it, actually. It upsets him, and I don't enjoy seeing him upset, so I just don't bring it up."

"So if you have a childhood memory that you want to share...you won't?" Angela asked.

Brennan shook her head in confirmation.

"Booth always feels like if I share something dark with him, that he has to share something dark as well, because he says if he doesn't, he feels like it's unfair. He gets more upset about sharing things than I do, and I don't want to put him through that," she paused again, looking at Angela with desperation in her eyes when she saw that her friend was still giving her a look of disapproval, "the only time I see him cry is when he talks about his past. It breaks my heart to see someone so strong become so vulnerable, Ange. So if I have to compress things to make sure that he doesn't have to go through that pain again, I will."

Angela's disapproving look faded, and she half smiled.

"You really love him," she commented, "I've never seen you do that before."

"Do what?"

"Put someone else's feelings before yours."

"I usually don't, but Booth's feelings are important to me. We're a couple...we're married. We put one another before ourselves."

"Oh, sweetie."

"What? I don't understand why this is so fascinating to you."

"It's not. It's just...you're evolving."

"Yeah," Brennan had to laugh, "I guess I am," she smiled and changed the subject when Christian looked over at Angela and she smiled back at him, "you're really good with him, Angela. Booth informed me that you are trying to get pregnant."

"Yeah, Hodgins and I have been trying for a little while now," she tickled the baby's side gently, seeing his eyes widen in response. With a small laugh at Christian, she continued, "we haven't had any luck yet."

"Maybe you and Hodgins should go to a fertility clinic," Brennan shrugged casually, rubbing Christian's back gently when he started to whine.

"Well I don't think we need to do that quite yet," Angela laughed at her bluntness, "we'll try a few more times first and if we still don't have any luck, we'll have to figure something out."

"You'll make a great mother, Ange," she assured her, hushing the baby when his whine grew a little louder, "but I have to go. I think Chris is getting hungry."

"Oh, yeah, of course. Don't let me hold you back," she smiled, leaning over to kiss the baby's cheek once again, "bye, cutie. I'll talk to you later, Bren."

"I'll call you when Christian falls asleep," she told her, before she left her office.

* * *

><p>"Here you go, he's all fresh and clean now," Max handed the baby back to Brennan after he changed his diaper and bathed him.<p>

"Wow, you're quick," she commented, setting him on her lap and smiling down at him when he looked up at her with interested eyes.

"I have record time for changing diapers," he told her proudly, "and I'm pretty good with bathing too. I'll tell you, he's a little squirmy. When you were a baby, you were so still. You loved getting clean."

"Well Christian doesn't like to make things easy," she said, "he's like his father."

Max laughed and took a seat next to his daughter on the couch.

"I don't think that all comes from Booth," he told her, "you were easy when you were a baby, but as you got older, your stubbornness started to kick in. You went through a phase when you were four where you refused to eat."

"My vegetables, right?"

"No. You wouldn't eat anything," Max laughed, "it was like pulling teeth trying to get you to eat your dinner. Your mother and I used to tell you that you couldn't play cards or a family board game with us unless you finished your plate. It was the only way we could get you to."

"Maybe I wasn't hungry," Brennan refused to admit she was a stubborn child, "maybe you shouldn't have been trying to force feed me."

"Well you had to eat, sweetheart. You were tiny," he told her, "your pediatrician used to ask us if we were feeding you properly because you were as skinny as a rail. I think she thought we were neglecting you."

Brennan didn't have time to respond before her phone started to ring. Apologizing, she picked it up and held it between her shoulder and her ear, making sure that both of her hands were free to support the baby. Max wasn't sure who she was on the phone with, but he saw her smile fade and heard her say a few 'yes's and 'okay's before she finally told them she'd be there soon and hung up. Without wasting any time, she handed the baby to her father and stood up quickly.

"I'm sorry, dad, but would you mind staying with Christian for a bit?" She sounded like she was trying to keep a stressed tone under control.

"Why? What's going on?" Max asked, as he took the baby from her and held him close.

"I'm not entirely sure," Brennan admitted, "but I have to go."

"Sweetheart, you can tell me why you're rushing out of here," he assured her, having a feeling that she wasn't giving him the information because she still believed he was a criminal and didn't trust him, "I'll stay as long as you need me to, but now I'm getting worried."

"I'm sure it's nothing," she mumbled, grabbing her purse off the floor, "Sully just said there was an incident when he and Booth went to arrest someone, but that everyone is fine."

"So then why do you need to go?"

"Because apparently Booth is asking for me."

"Why?"

"I don't know, dad," she snapped, closing her eyes in frustration as she opened the door, "I don't know what's going on, I just know that I need to be there."


	26. I Will Always Come Home to You

**A/N: Here you all go. I didn't want to keep you waiting too long on that little cliff hanger. =] So, this chapter is a little long, but I figured you guys wouldn't mind, especially since the last few chapters have been on the shorter side. I was on a roll today, and I figured you all deserved a long one for being so supportive. =] Thank you all so much, by the way, for your reviews, alerts, favorites, ect. =D**

Chapter Twenty-Six:

"I Will Always Come Home to You"

"Excuse me, ma'am, you can't be here," a cop attempted to step in front of Brennan when she rushed to the scene, "this area is closed off."

Brennan stopped, staring the cop down with pure anger in her eyes. If only this cop knew that this was definitely not the time to mess with her.

"I'm Doctor Temperance Brennan, I work at the Jeffersonian, and my husband is in there, so I believe I have the qualifications to enter," she practically hissed, even though her angry tone was beginning to dissolve into a pleading tone, "I'm married to Agent Booth and he is expecting me. So if you could please step aside and let me in, I would appreciate it."

Without saying anything to respond, he simply stepped aside, giving her a sympathetic look as she made her way quickly towards the flashing lights of the sirens, where she found Sully, Perotta, and a bunch of other men who worked for the FBI.

"Sully," Brennan reached him first, stopping in front of him, "where is he?"

"Over there," he pointed over towards an ambulance, "the paramedic is cleaning him up," he quickly reassured her when he saw how worried she looked, "he's fine, Brennan. I promise."

Brennan nodded and nearly sprinted over to him, sighing in relief when she saw that he was sitting up straight, looking completely normal and healthy, aside from him holding a cloth to his neck, which was slowly becoming splotched with blood.

"Oh God, Booth, what happened?" She asked, swatting his hand away so she could press the white cloth to his neck with some pressure, seeing him wince in discomfort when she did.

"Nothing, I'm fine," he assured her, looking up at her with a small, charming half smile.

"Clearly you're not fine because you're bleeding from your neck," her tone was scolding.

"Bones, it's not a big deal. The guy got the jump on me and held a knife to me. It's not the first time it's happened," he told her, "he cut a little bit as a warning to everyone to stay away, but I don't think he was actually going to kill me."

Brennan sighed and took the towel away, gasping at the way the cut stretched almost halfway across his throat, and was fairly deep.

"Booth," she brushed her thumb over his Adam's apple, "if he would have cut another mere two inches...you would have been dead."

"But he didn't," Booth laughed softly, trying to make light of the situation, as Brennan pressed the towel back to his neck, "I'm fine. I don't even need to go to the hospital. I'm telling you, he wouldn't have killed me. He wanted to grab Sully, but it was dark and he wound up grabbing me instead. He wasn't expecting someone else to be here."

"Why were you here if you weren't supposed to be?" She asked.

"Because, clearly," Booth gestured towards the wound on his neck, "this guy was dangerous, and Sully was about to come here by himself. I wanted him to have back up."

Without saying anything, she simply let go of the towel, letting it drop to his lap as she glared at him, wanting nothing more than to slap him at the moment. Booth picked the towel back up when he felt a drop of blood dribble down his neck, pressing it back to the cut.

"What? Why are you angry?" He asked.

"Because you're a selfish bastard," she told him, keeping her sharp voice down to make sure none of the other agents could hear their argument.

"Selfish?" Booth asked, "I came here to make sure Sully didn't get murdered, which would have happened if I wasn't here. I don't think that qualifies as selfish, now does it?"

"It's selfish because you just want to be there hero all the damn time," she hissed, "for God sakes, do you even think before you act?"

"I don't-"

"Two inches, Booth!" She lowered her voice again, leaning a little closer to make sure he could hear the harshness in her tone, "Two inches and you would have left your three week old son without a father. You need to use your head. You have two young children that you would have left without fathers because you always have to get yourself into dangerous situations. I feel like every time we're apart you're getting shot, or blown up, or stabbed."

"I'm an FBI agent, Bones, it's gonna happen."

"Not all the time," he could tell that she was trying to keep the angry act up, even though her eyes were welling up with tears, "you need to start thinking about your family, and not your job. I don't know how else to say it, Booth. If that man's knife would have just slipped...I would have been getting a call that you were in the morgue, not just sitting here with a bloody neck," she turned away from him to dab at the angry tears that slid down her cheeks, not wanting to let him know that this was what he reduced her to, "I am so angry with you right now."

Even though he couldn't see the tears, he could hear her voice trembling and hear her sniff when she was finished speaking. Seeing that she was more than just a little upset, he lowered his voice, keeping his tone gentle.

"Bones...I'm sorry."

"Save it," she muttered, sniffing and wiping away the last of the tears, "where's your SUV? I'm not letting you drive right now."

"It's back at work," he told her, "we took Sully's car."

"I'll take you to get it in the morning," she didn't turn to look at him when she spoke, "meet me in the car after the paramedic patches you up."

"Bones," he tried, but didn't have time to finish the thought before she was storming off to the car without turning back to look at him.

When she made it to the car, she sat inside, slamming the door behind her as she jammed the keys into the ignition in order to turn the heat on. She cranked the heat up, wrapping her arms around herself as she shivered from the cold, pressing her forehead against the steering wheel, and finally allowing herself to cry. She wasn't entirely sure why she was crying, since Booth was right outside, and he was perfectly fine, but she couldn't seem to shake the thought that he could have just as easily been dead tonight. _Two more inches_. The thought seemed to haunt her.

Brennan simply sat in the car, allowing herself to cry, her shoulders shaking with sobs, until her husband came back a little while later. Quickly wiping her tears, she unlocked the door for him, keeping her eyes focused on the windshield. Booth silently got into the passenger's seat, keeping quiet, since he could see that she didn't want to talk, as she took the car out of park and began to drive. It was only about ten minutes into the drive that Booth spoke.

"Bones-"

"Booth, I do not wish to speak to you at the moment," she cut him off.

"Bones, I can tell you've been crying," he kept his voice soft, ignoring her wishes, "I'm sorry if I scared you tonight, but you have no right to be mad at me."

"I have every right to be mad at you," she told him calmly.

"Okay, you're right, you have every right to be mad at me for almost dying," he said sarcastically, "you know, if it really upsets you that much that I could have been killed, then you should just be grateful that I'm here instead of giving me the silent treatment."

"One of these days, Seeley, you're going to wind up getting killed," she told him bluntly, "It can be avoided, but I know you won't stop getting into danger, so I am just anticipating that day where I get the phone call informing me that you're dead."

"I'm careful, Temperance."

"Obviously not careful enough! Do you even know what it would do to me if you died?"

"I should have guessed...this is about you," he looked away from her, turning his gaze so he was looking out the windshield the way she was, "it's not that you don't want your husband's life taken from him, or that you don't want your child to grow up without a father, it about how upset _you_ would be. Let me ask you something, Temperance. When is it ever _not_ about you?"

"You're a jackass," she muttered.

"No, I want a real answer, Bones. When do you ever think of someone else before yourself? You didn't like what I did, but all I was doing was helping someone out. Just because you're selfish doesn't mean the rest of the world has to be."

"Shut up," she was trying to sound harsh through the tears that were forming due to his hurtful words, "I'm trying to drive and I can't concentrate."

"Pull over," he told her, lowering his voice again, "you can't drive while you're crying."

"I don't need to pull over. I'm not crying."

"Yes you are, and if you don't pull over we're going to crash and then we're _both_ going to be dead."

Reluctantly, Brennan pulled over onto the side of the road, putting the car into park and staring blankly out the window as tears rolled down her cheeks. When she felt Booth touch her arm gently, she shook it off, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Bones, baby, you know I love you. And I know what I said was out of line, but you know I didn't mean it."

"Of course you meant it. How stupid do you think I am?" She asked, "If you didn't mean it, you wouldn't have said it. If you didn't think I was selfish, it wouldn't have ever came out of your mouth."

"Temperance-"

"Don't touch me!" She pushed his hand off of her arm with some force when he touched her again, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip off this stupid wedding band and throw it out the window."

"Because we're married, and we're supposed to stick together no matter what," he cupped her cheek gently, ignoring that she didn't want to be touched, as he turned her head to look at him, "I'm so sorry, Bones. I never meant to hurt you, and I feel like the biggest ass on the planet right now for making you cry."

Brennan was looking at him for the first time since he got in the car, seeing that the gauze that was covering the cut on his throat already had spots of blood on it. _Two more inches_. She still couldn't shake the thought.

"I..." she paused, shaking her head, the tears coming just a bit faster.

"Sh...it's okay," Booth promised, wiping away some of her tears with his thumb, "you don't have to say anything right now. You don't have to forgive me. I know I screwed up calling you selfish, and if you're going to be mad at me, I deserve it."

Brennan pressed her forehead against his chest, crying softly as he let go of her face to stroke a comforting hand over her back. After a few minutes of just letting the tears out, she finally spoke, her voice low and vulnerable.

"Every day when you leave for work, I fear for your life," she told him honestly, "when we worked together, it wasn't a big deal, because I was going to be there to make sure no one got the jump on you, and to help you with whatever you were doing, but now, it's completely out of my hands. You're always the hero, Booth, and that scares me. The fact that you will put yourself into danger to help someone else is frightening to me, because, one day," she paused, picking her head up to look at him, "because one day you're not going to come home because of it."

"I will always come home to you," he promised, stroking her hair gently and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, "always. I promise."

"You can't promise me that," she whispered, "you can say that now, but you don't know what is going to hap-"

Booth cut her off when he kissed her gently, tenderly, showing her all of the love he had for her in the simple lip-lock. Brennan broke the kiss not too long after he initiated it, so she could simply look into his warm, brown eyes.

"I love you," she told him sincerely, "even though I should be mad at you for insulting me, I can't help but to think about how close we came to not even being able to have this conversation," she kissed his Adam's apple softly after she spoke, "I don't want to take anything we have for granted, Booth. Because you are so important to me."

"I love you too," he kissed the bridge of her nose in return, "and I'm so sorry for what I said about you being selfish, because you're not, and I just blurted it out in anger. I swear to you, I didn't mean any of it."

"I know," she rested her head against his shoulder, just needing a few minutes before she could start to drive again, "I know, Booth."

* * *

><p>When Brennan and Booth walked through the front door, hand in hand, Max breathed a sigh of relief. His daughter had ran out of the house, mumbling something about something happening and her needing to be there, and then didn't return for quite some time, so, needless to say, he was beginning to worry.<p>

"There you guys are," he smiled in spite of his former nervousness, "I was about to call you, Tempe. I wanted to make sure-" he stopped when he saw the bloody gauze on his son-in-law's throat, "what happened to you, son?"

"There was a bit of an issue when another agent and I went to go arrest this guy, but it's all under control. He's in police custody now," he explained.

"Well what about you?" Max asked, "Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch."

"It doesn't look like a scratch."

"He's fine, dad," Brennan assured her father, knowing that he was capable of grilling him for hours until he got the whole story, "someone was going to slit his throat, but they didn't, and he's okay. He just has a cut. It's a little more than a scratch, but he's perfectly fine."

"If you say so," Max shrugged, knowing that he was about two more questions away from getting scolded, "I fed, burped, and put Christian to bed, so he should be okay for a while. But I'm gonna get going, because I can tell you kids are tired."

"Well it's not like we're actually going to sleep having a newborn in the house," Brennan laughed lightly, "thank you for watching him, dad."

"No problem, I like spending time with him," Max shrugged, saying another goodbye to the both of them before he left the apartment.

Brennan really was grateful that they had so many people around who were willing to help. It comforted her knowing that, if there was ever an emergency, someone would be there for Chris. She was jerked out of her thoughts when she felt her husband's fingers brush against the side of her neck.

"You tired, baby?" He asked.

"Don't call me baby," was her immediate response, before she actually answered the question, "and not really."

Booth followed her when she walked into their bedroom, standing in front of the vanity so she could take her earrings off and place them back in her jewelry box. She could see that he was standing behind her in the reflection of the mirror, and smiled when he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled the back of her neck softly.

"I love you," he murmured into her hair.

"I love you too," she stroked his forearms gently when she spoke, tilting her head back so it touched his shoulder as she closed her eyes.

Since her eyes had fluttered shut, she was surprised when he turned her around, pressing his lips hungrily to hers. She was aware of the different types of kisses he gave. There were the 'I care deeply for you and want to kiss you' kisses, which were usually soft and innocent, the kisses he gave to comfort her, the passionate 'I love you, and don't you ever forget it' kisses. This kiss was one another kind that she was very familiar with. This was the 'I want you' kiss.

Not hesitating for a second, Brennan cupped his face between her hands, parting her lips without having to be urged, and allowing their tongues to tangle, as he backed her up until her lower back hit the vanity. She made a small sound of surprise against his lips from the unexpected contact, which quickly turned into a soft moan when she felt the way his tongue was exploring the inside of her mouth. Breaking the contact of their lips, Brennan kissed the line of his jaw softly, feeling his hands move to caress her sides. When she reached his ear, she nibbled on the lobe softly and whispered to him in a velvety voice.

"Make love to me."

Without missing a beat, Booth moved his hand from her waist to push some things she had on the vanity aside, hearing the glass of her perfume bottles clink together and a few things clatter to the floor as he lifted her up and set her on the newly cleared space. She gasped when he lifted her, her hands clutching onto his hair, only to let go when he set her down so she could start on the buttons of his shirt, grateful that he either didn't wear a tie, or had taken it off at some point during the day.

She moaned softly, tilting her head up when he kissed her neck, able to feel his hands pulling at the buttons on her blouse before she felt a cool breeze against her exposed stomach, able to feel the fabric of the shirt being pushed down her arms as it fluttered to the floor. Feeling slightly self conscious, since her baby weight had not all come off yet, she subtly moved her arms to fall in front of her stomach.

"Bones," Booth's raspy voice caused her to open her eyes and look back down at him, as he moved her arms away, "you're beautiful."

Unsure of how she should respond to that, she simply caressed the side of his face gently before sliding her hands down his torso to tug at his 'cocky' belt buckle. She could feel his thumb run over a scar on her stomach a few times before he moved to unbutton her pants as well. When she felt the button pop open, and could hear the zipper being lowered, she remembered something. Something very important.

"Booth," it was difficult for her to get it out once he started to kiss from her neck down to the center of her chest, "Booth, stop. You have to stop."

Booth's hands were making their way to unclip her bra when he processed the words. He looked up at her, confusion all over his features.

"Protection," she whispered.

"What?" His mind was in such a lust clouded state that he couldn't process what she was trying to tell him.

"We need a condom," she stroked the side of his face gently as she spoke, kissing his cheek softly, his skin still feeling warm from their hot and heavy kiss, "do you have one?"

"No," he told her, his hands smoothing down her back, "I wasn't planning on us making love tonight."

"Me neither," she pulled his face to hers, pressing their foreheads together, "maybe it's for the better. It probably wouldn't have been comfortable for me anyway. We're supposed to wait six weeks. It's only been three."

"You're right," he kissed her lips gently once more before helping her off the vanity, "I think we got a little carried away."

"Yes, I think we did," she agreed, with a light laugh, going over to the dresser to pick out something to sleep in, "but at least now I'm already half undressed so I can change quickly."

"Yeah, thank God for me," he laughed lightly in response.

As they started to change, Brennan switched the topic.

"Booth?" Brennan asked, pulling her pants, which had already been unbuttoned and unzipped, all the way off to replace them with sweat pants.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we should work together again."

**Another cliff hanger, but just a little one this time. =]**


	27. I Just Want This Day to Be Over

**A/N: Hello. =] I'm sorry this took so long to get out to you guys. I find angsty B&B challenging to write. xD So this chapter is not very fluffy, and we haven't even gotten to the big angst I talked about earlier. **

**I'm apologizing in advanced for any errors, because I just proof read this a few minutes ago and my head is pounding, so I may have missed some things. ****And someone asked me if I have a twitter account. The answer to that is no, I do not. Sorry. =]**

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

"I Just Want This Day to Be Over"

"I'm sorry...what?" Booth asked, completely lost already.

"I think we should work together again," Brennan repeated, with a small shrug.

Booth couldn't understand why she felt like it was completely normal to decide that she wanted to work with him again when, less than twenty four hours ago, she told him the exact opposite.

"Bones, you told me at lunch today that you didn't want to work together again," he reminded her, working the fabric of his white dress shirt over his shoulders and down his arms, tossing it onto the floor.

Brennan huffed as she picked his shirt up and tossed it into the hamper. It was one of the things he always did that drove her crazy. The hamper was three feet away, and he insisted on tossing his shirts onto the floor.

"Am I not allowed to change my mind?" She asked.

Seeing that this conversation was about to start going in circles, he quickly put on his sweat pants so he could take her hand, pulling her close so he could speak seriously to her.

"What's going on here, Bones?" He asked.

"I...don't understand the question," she looked at his bare chest when she spoke.

"You've been so hot and cold lately," he told her, lacing their fingers together, "I just want to know why. Because, to be honest, I can't keep up with you anymore."

"I'm trying to understand," she sounded apologetic, since she honestly just didn't understand what he was trying to tell her.

"Bones," he let go of her hand to cup her cheek gently, "come sit. We need to have a talk," he lead her to their bed, sitting on the edge, where she took a seat next to him, looking at him half in confusion and half in fear of what he was going to say, her nerves easing a bit when he smiled and laughed lightly, "babe, you're jerking me around so hard lately that I think I'm getting whiplash. It's like, I can never say the right thing anymore."

"Of course you can," Brennan laughed lightly, taking his hand in hers, "you always know what to say, Booth. Usually I have to ask you."

"I don't mean..." he shook his head, "I mean, I feel like I'm walking on eggshells with you lately. I have to be careful with what I say, because I'm afraid it's going to set you off."

"Well why do you feel that way?" She asked.

"I don't know," Booth admitted, "I feel like you've just been on edge lately. With me, at least. I love you, and I try to do right by you, but I feel like it isn't enough."

"It's enough," she assured him, "I'm sorry if you feel like I am difficult to please lately. It's just the stress of having the baby and the lack of sleep."

"That's not an excuse," the look he was giving her was apologetic when he saw how surprised she looked when she heard the words, "I need to know what you want, Bones. What you _really_ want. Because now, if you tell me that you want something, I have no idea if that's what you really do want or if you're going to change your mind in ten minutes."

"I want to work with you," she promised, letting go of his hand to touch his cheek, making sure he was looking at her, "after seeing what almost happened to you tonight, I realized that I should be keeping you safe."

Booth laughed a small laugh, stroking her hair gently with his free hand.

"Isn't that my line?" He asked.

"I'm serious, Booth."

"I know you're serious," his smile was warm as he leaned over to kiss her softly, "we're protective of each other. We like to keep each other safe. But if you feel like working together would be unhealthy for our marriage, you shouldn't just decide we should because you feel like you need to babysit me."

"I don't feel like I need to babysit you. I just feel like we would both be safer if we worked together. Then we could protect each other."

"Baby," he ran his thumb over her wrist, looking at her to see that she was giving him a disapproving look at the term of endearment, "Bones...is this what you want? Not just so you can keep tabs on me, but because you want to be my partner again?"

"Yes," she promised, "I've put a lot of thought into it, and I do miss being partners. I've been thinking about it for a while, but this...tonight was what made it clear that we should be working together again. I feel like maybe it may be healthier for our marriage too, as opposed to being harmful. We seem to get along better when we're working together."

"Because Ricky won't be driving a wedge between us," Booth pointed out.

"Booth, Ricky has nothing to do with the fact that we've been growing apart."

"He does, Bones, and we both know that," he let go of her hand, looking at her seriously, "Ricky has been coming between us for a while now. Not intentionally, but he is. The fact that he has feelings for you drives me absolutely insane."

"He doesn't-"

"You said it yourself when we were at the hospital. He wants to sleep with you, Bones. I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to say he's in love with you, but I know, without a doubt, that he wants to sleep with you."

Brennan looked at him with a concerned expression.

"You think I'd get into bed with him?"

"No," he said quickly, "I mean...I don't think you would intentionally try to hurt me-"

"So you think I would have sex with another man?" Booth winced at the harshness of her scolding tone.

"No, I never said that. I-"

"That is exactly what you said! You said I would never _intentionally_ try to hurt you, which means that you think I may get into bed with him without knowing I was hurting you."

"No, Bones, because you know that sleeping with Ricky _would_ hurt me, so I know you wouldn't. I know you wouldn't anyway because you promised that this...this marriage, this monogamous relationship is what you want," before this could escalate into a full blown argument, Booth grasped her chin gently, tilting her head up to look at him, "look at me. I _love_ you. You mean absolutely everything to me, but we have to stop fighting like this. If we can't...if we don't..."

"We'll have to get divorced?"

Brennan bit her lip in fear of his answer, but, before he could respond, the sound of crying filled their bedroom from the baby monitor. Offering her a gentle touch on the knee, his way of saying, 'we'll finish this conversation later', Booth stood up to go get the baby, leaving his wife alone in their room when he went to get him. When he left, Brennan followed him, watching as he lifted Christian from his crib and held him close, rocking him gently to try and ease his crying.

"He might be hungry," Brennan kept her voice soft, still a little shaken up from the mention of the 'D' word, "I'm not sure how long ago Max fed him."

"I'll feed him then," Booth volunteered, going into the kitchen to get a bottle to warm up.

Brennan sighed and closed her eyes in frustration when she saw how he retreated to the kitchen without looking at her. She followed him silently, able to hear him talking quietly to the baby as he placed the bottle in the bottle warmer, but unable to make out the words.

"Booth?" She asked softly, waiting for him to turn around and look at her before she continued, "Is this working?"

"Is what working?" He asked, rubbing the baby's back in small circles.

Brennan paused, looking at the ground, then back up to her husband's face.

"Do you think we should get a divorce?" She asked.

"Is that your way of telling me that you want one?"

"No, of course I don't want one," she clarified quickly, since she knew the question could have been misunderstood, "I'm not asking you if we _can_, I'm asking you if you think we should. I don't want to get a divorce, but if you do..."

"Why would I want to get divorced?" He asked.

"I don't know," she was growing frustrated with all of the arguing that was going on in the past few hours, "I was just asking," she sat at the table, putting her head in her hands, "I'm just exhausted, Booth. I'm just...really tired."

"Are you crying?" He asked gently.

"No," her words rang false, since, it was clear by the sound of her voice, that she was, "I just...want to go to sleep. I just want this day to be over."

Brennan was sick of crying. She was never one to cry often, but now she felt like it was constant, and she was tired of letting everything get to her like this. She knew it was because she really _was_ tired. That and the recent stress had just put her on edge. When she felt her husband touch her shoulder affectionately, she jumped. With a sigh, she rested her cheek against the cool surface of the table, sniffing and blinking back the rest of her tears.

"I love you," Booth's voice was warm and velvety in her ear, "don't ever ask me if I want a divorce again, okay? Because the answer will always be no."

"Okay," she didn't sound convinced, taking another deep sigh as she embraced the feeling of his fingers of the hand that wasn't supporting Christian running through her hair.

"Promise me you'll never doubt our marriage again."

"I promise," she had just the slightest twinge of an attitude behind her voice.

Booth kissed her temple softly, unable to lean down too far since he was still holding the baby.

"I love you," he told her.

"I know," she murmured, not feeling up to saying it back at the moment.

"So are we going to work together again?"

Brennan picked her head up, wiping the wet off of her cheeks as she looked at him.

"Do you want to?"

"Do I want to go back to spending every day with my wife?" He laughed lightly, kissing her damp cheek, "Yes."

"Okay," Brennan offered him a feather light kiss on the good side of his throat before he went to go get the now warmed up bottle for Christian, "I will speak to Ricky tomorrow."

* * *

><p>"Temperance Brennan," Angela's tone was scolding as she stood next to the table Brennan was sitting at, her hands on her hips, "you need to sleep. You look like you were just hit by a bus."<p>

Brennan huffed and took another sip of her coffee. Apparently the make up she'd applied that morning wasn't doing much to hide how worn out she was.

"I didn't sleep much last night," she told her.

"Christian keeping you up?" She asked, not waiting for a response before she continued, "Where is the little guy anyway?"

"Booth took him out to run errands, and no, Chris was actually pretty well behaved last night," she took another sip of her coffee before she elaborated, "Booth and I were fighting last night, and it made me a little restless. We spoke about getting a divorce."

Angela was genuinely surprised, her mouth hanging slightly slack.

"Did you discuss it as in...you're actually thinking about splitting up?"

"I don't know," Brennan admitted, "Booth left me very confused last night. That's why I was having trouble getting to sleep. It was all I was thinking about."

"Well what exactly did he say?" Angela asked, wanting to see if she could help in any way, since she knew sometimes, even when things were very clear to most people, Brennan would have a hard time understanding.

"We had been fighting almost all night," she looked down at the table when she spoke in a low voice, her tone indicating that the topic was slightly upsetting to her, "and then Booth told me that we needed to stop fighting, or else _something_...but he never finished. So I finished for him, and I asked him if he thought we should get a divorce. He said no...but he was acting strange about it. And then he told me he loved me, but I didn't say it back, and I'm afraid that I made him doubt the way I feel about him."

Angela frowned, placing her hand comfortingly on her friend's arm.

"I'm sure you won't get divorced, Brennan. You're both stressed."

"We're both alienating our relationship, Angela. And I don't know how to stop it."

"Talk to each other."

"We can't talk to each other! Every time we try to have a conversation we end up in a fight," Brennan pushed her hands through her hair in frustration, "I love Booth, Ange, and I'm losing him. I mean, maybe working together again will help to revive our relationship, but I'm not feeling very optimistic."

"Wait," Angela put a halt to her rambling, "you and Booth are working together again?"

"Yes, I have to talk to Ricky about it today," she prepared herself for the noises of excitement that she was expecting.

"So does that mean you're done with Ricky? Because honestly, sweetie, I feel like, with Ricky out of the picture, it'll be a lot easier to patch up your relationship with Handsome."

Brennan sighed and finished her coffee, fixing her mussed up hair before she stood up.

"I'm going to go talk to him now," she told her, tossing some money on the table before she left, turning to face Angela once more before she left, "and, before you get too excited, Ricky and I are going to remain friends."


	28. Do You Mind If I Stay a Little Longer?

**A/N: Okie doke, so I am very proud of myself, since I wrote this chapter in about an hour and a half (broken up between going in the pool and getting some sun =]) and I think it came out okay. This chapter might really tick some of you off, so I'm just going to post it, and then avoid your reviews for a while. xD**

**And I noticed, with the reviews from last chapter, that a lot of you guys are really good at picking up on small details (Brennan flinching when Booth touched her last chapter, being one thing that I thought you guys would skim over), but I guess you proved me wrong. You guys compliment me all the time, so I decided to compliment you. I know I'm not so great at picking up details when I read, so my hat is off to you all. xD**

**And one last thing, I got a question asking if Brennan was going to sleep with Ricky, and if that was going to be the big angst, and the answer to that is a big N-O. I wouldn't make her do that to Booth, I promise. If you want to know what the big angst will be, you'll just have to stick with me until we get there. =]**

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

"Do You Mind If I Stay a Little Longer?"

Brennan knocked on her, soon to be ex, partner's office door, waiting patiently for permission to enter. When she heard Ricky's familiar voice telling her to come in, she opened up the door and stepped inside, closing it quietly behind her.

"Hey," Ricky quickly stood up from where he was sitting at his desk, so he could make his way over to her and pull her into a tight, friendly hug, "I haven't heard from you in a month."

Brennan smiled and closed her eyes when he embraced her, resting her cheek against his shoulder. She couldn't recall a time where she felt more comfortable and cared for in Ricky's arms. She had to assume that was because of all of the unpleasant things that went on between she and Booth the night prior. What she really needed at that moment was a friend who, unlike Angela, who was always trying to fix things and be the voice of reason, would just hug her and make her feel like everything was going to work out for her.

"I'm sorry I haven't made an effort to get in touch with you lately," Brennan suddenly felt guilty, since she hadn't spoken to Ricky in a month, and now she was just going to see him to tell him that she wanted to get their partnership severed.

"Not a problem at all," Ricky laughed lightly, letting her go so he could look at her when he spoke, "I figured you were too busy being a mommy. Where is the baby, anyway? Did you forget him in the car?"

"No, I didn't," Brennan laughed lightly at the little joke, giving him a playful nudge in the arm, "Booth went out to run some errands this morning and took Christian with him. I needed a break anyway."

"I bet you did. Being a new parent seems tough. Not that I would know," he laughed, "so when am I getting my partner back? I have to admit, after working with you for almost three months, working alone gets pretty boring. Especially since I haven't had a case in-"

"Ricky, that's kind of what I came here to speak to you about," she cut him off before he could get too carried away, seeing that, now, he looked genuinely confused, "Cullen gave Booth and I permission to work together again. He admitted that he was wrong for splitting us up in the first place, and said that, when I return to work, Booth and I can partner up again."

"Oh," Ricky couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice when he heard the news, even as he was trying to play it off like he was happy for them, "well then...never mind."

Brennan knew he only laughed to cover up his disappointment.

"I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely, "I really enjoy working with you. You're a great partner, and a great friend, but Booth and I need this. We haven't really been seeing face to face lately."

"You mean 'eye to eye'?" Ricky had to laugh at her misuse of the term.

"I guess," she laughed as well, "but, anyway, Booth and I have been having some issues, and we feel like working together again may help to straighten them out, since we didn't really have them before our partnership was terminated."

"Look, marriage first, Ricky second. I totally understand where you're coming from," he assured her, "and, I mean, you and Booth were working together for years before we met. I always figured that if you had to make a decision, the choice would be obvious."

"Ricky, I know you're trying to make me feel better about this, but it's not working," she half smiled sympathetically at him, "I feel like I used you, and now that I'm able to work with Booth again, I'm just cutting off our partnership like it meant nothing."

"Hey, we both know it meant something," Ricky lowered his voice, seeing that she was honestly not finding any fun in this at all, and that, even Temperance Brennan, the woman everyone swore was cold and detached, was feeling a bit sad about ending their partnership, "we worked well together while it lasted, and we built a nice friendship around it."

"I do still want to remain friends, if that's okay with you," she told him.

"You kidding?" He laughed, "Bren, just because we're not working together anymore doesn't mean that I want nothing to do with you. We got close, there's no denying that. And I don't want to give up a great friendship because we don't solve murders together anymore. I know you're busy at home with Christian, and I'm usually tied up with work, but we'll make time to spend with each other every now and then."

Ricky was taken by surprise when she pulled him into a tight, unexpected hug.

"You are so kind, Ricky," she told him, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt "most people would not be this understanding."

"I just get it, Bren," he assured her, "I'm not any kind of saint for not getting mad at you because you want to spend more time with your husband."

"But you should be mad, and you're not," she let go of him with a sigh, running her hands nervously through her hair, "Booth is going to be annoyed that I still want to spend time with you. He believes you are the cause of all of this."

Brennan immediately wished she could take that back, because, even though she wasn't trying to, she knew that it would probably hurt Ricky's feelings a bit to know that Booth believed he was the center of their issues.

"Me?" Ricky asked, covering the hurt in his voice with a small laugh.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," she shook her head, feeling frustrated with herself, "but, now that I did, I'll have to elaborate. Booth believes that you are attracted to me, and that you want to sleep with me. And he believes that, that is one of the things that is causing problems in our marriage. He says he's not afraid that I will be unfaithful, but he is. Because if he wasn't afraid of that, then he wouldn't care that you and I are good friends."

Brennan hardly noticed how uncomfortable he looked when she spoke.

"Bren, you're gorgeous, and of course I'm attracted to you...what kind of guy wouldn't be? But you're happily married, and you have a baby at home. I would never expect you to have those kinds of feelings for me."

Now Brennan was the one to feel uncomfortable. He had said that he didn't expect her to have romantic feelings for him, but never clarified on whether _he_ had romantic feelings for her or not. He said he was attracted to her, but she was attracted to him too and, yet, had no desire to have any sort of romantic involvement with him. The fact that they were attracted to each other, being as they are both attractive adults, didn't mean that they wanted to get in one another's pants.

"You say you understand my relationship status and do not expect me to have feelings for you...but do _you_ have feelings for _me_? Feelings beyond thinking that I am pleasing to look at?" She asked, feeling slightly embarrassed when she just came out and asked, but really didn't know any other way to do it, "You can be honest with me, Ricky. It won't altar my opinion of you."

"Like I said before, Bren, I think you're smokin' hot, and you're a great person, but I don't want to sleep with you, if that's what you're asking."

"Usually when you are attracted to someone, you want to mate with them. It is our instinct."

"Yeah, I get that, but it's not my instinct to be a home wrecker," he laughed lightly.

"So if I wasn't with Booth..."

"If you weren't with Booth, I'd probably ask you on a date," his half smile was charming, causing her to laugh, "just a date though."

"You wouldn't be taking me to some sleazy motel to try and score?" She asked playfully.

"No, of course not, I am a gentleman, you know. I'd at least take you to a semi-decent motel to try and score. And only on the second date, not the first."

"Well at least you wouldn't try on the first date," she laughed lightly, "I have to give you some sort of credit for that."

"You don't seem like the type to let a guy score on the first date anyway," he shrugged, laughing at the ridiculousness of their conversation, "you're way too rational to let things get that out of hand."

"You're right, I am," she laughed lightly as well, taking a quick glance down at her watch.

Ricky looked at his watch as well when he saw Brennan do it.

"Jeez, I'm sorry I kept you here so long," he told her, "go home, I'm sure you want to spend time with your family on Booth's day off."

Brennan shuddered slightly when the thought came to mind. She had been avoiding Booth that day, rather than spending time with him, and she had a feeling that he was avoiding her as well. When he took Christian out, he didn't even bother to wake her up and tell her. He just left her a note next to the coffee pot, where he knew she would see it, to make sure she didn't freak out when she realized Chris wasn't in his crib.

"Do you mind if I stay a little longer?" She asked, quickly backtracking after she spoke, "I mean...is there anything I can help you with? Or are you going to go on break soon? Because, to be honest, I'm not really looking forward to going home to Booth today."

Ricky seemed genuinely surprised to hear the words come from her so casually, as if avoiding her husband was just a simple, petty thing.

"I know you said you guys have been having some problems, but I didn't know they were that bad," he told her, seeming just slightly concerned, "you're not on speaking terms?"

"No, we are," Brennan assured him, "I just...don't want to get into another fight with him. I feel like we both need a little more time before we can try to speak to each other about all of this again."

Ricky looked at his watch again, seeing that he had been at work for a few hours at this point, since he had to come in bright and early to finish paperwork.

"Alright," he chuckled, offering her a smile, "did you eat yet?"

"I had coffee, but I didn't eat," she told him.

"Okay, come on," he gestured towards the door of his office, putting the jacket that was hanging on the back of his chair back on, "we'll go grab something."

* * *

><p>When she came home with plastic shopping bags full of things for the baby in one hand, and her leftover breakfast from when she went to eat with Ricky in the other, the first thing Brennan heard was the sound of her husband's voice, and a small sound coming from her son.<p>

"Look who's home, Chris," Booth spoke to the baby softly, "mommy's back."

Brennan half smiled and sat next to him on the couch, setting the bags on the coffee table.

"Booth, don't let him put your finger in his mouth," she complained, tugging on his wrist until Christian reluctantly stopped sucking on his father's finger.

When Booth took his hand away before he could start to suck again, Christian made a noise of displeasure. The noise that usually indicated that he was about to start crying. Booth hushed him, rocking him gently, but it wasn't seeming to work.

"Don't cry, Chris," Brennan quickly reached into one of the bags, digging through it for a minute until she found what she was looking for, "look what mommy has, baby. Don't cry," she pulled the pacifier out of it's packaging as quickly as she could, wanting to make sure she gave it to him before he could start to cry again, "look what I got you? Your very first pacifier."

As soon as she popped the pacifier into his mouth, the noises stopped and he began to suck again, his eyes closing in comfort when he did.

"Are you sure he's old enough for that?" Booth asked, even though, looking at how content the baby was sucking on his new pacifier, he didn't think he's be able to take it away even if he wanted to.

"I looked it up," Brennan assured him, turning her head to make direct eye contact with her husband for the first time since the night prior, "it's perfectly safe to give him a pacifier at his age. And having something to suck on will help to soothe him."

"Well he looks pretty happy right now," Booth laughed lightly, looking back down at the baby that was in his arms.

Brennan reached over to fix Christian's blanket when he shifted and misplaced it.

"Was he good for you today?" She asked.

"Yeah, he was really good, actually. Didn't cry once," Booth sounded proud when he spoke, "I got hit on a few times thought. You know, a lot of women like the 'single father' thing for some reason."

"But...you're not a single father," she seemed confused by his words.

"I know, Bones, but they didn't know that," he chuckled, "they just saw a guy alone with a baby and decided it was time to try their luck. I got so many women telling me how cute he was, asking his name and how old he was, and I think one of the women who worked at the grocery store thought I was flirting with her because I couldn't get the credit card machine to work. They all backed off when they saw the wedding ring though."

"Good," she laughed lightly, "although I think they may have been more in love with Christian than you."

"He _is_ a chick magnet," Booth laughed as well, "Right, buddy?" The baby kept his eyes closed, as Booth carefully stood up, making sure he didn't disturb the sleeping baby.

Brennan watched him curiously as he got up from his place on the couch.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I'm going to get him some warmer clothes and then I'm gonna take him out for a walk," he told her.

Brennan was going to ask if she could come along, but decided against it, since, if he wanted her to, he probably would have invited her. She noticed that he was acting strange that day. Even though they were talking and seeming to get along fine, he didn't kiss her when she came home, or even offer her a 'hi baby'. The only real acknowledgment he gave her was informing Christian that she was back. When they were talking, he didn't touch her, or play with her hair the way he usually did. And then he simply got up, ready to take Christian back out without telling her where he was going, and not asking if she wanted to come along.

Her suspicion of him acting strange were confirmed when he changed the baby, got him wrapped up in blankets, got the stroller out of the closet, and left without saying anything. No 'I love you', not even a simple 'see you later'. She thought, on the bright side, at least they didn't fight in the ten minutes that they saw each other. But, then again, he seemed to make a break to get out of there as soon as she came home. Maybe he was still angry about the night prior. Maybe she had said something that hit a nerve, and really upset him. She thought about apologizing, before she realized that she would have no idea what to apologize for.

All she knew was that she loved her husband, and she wanted nothing more than to make this relationship work, but, as if it was out of her control, she could practically feel the rising tension between them. The sudden not wanting to be together, the awkward conversation they had, attempting not to bring up their marital problems. And, as much as she loved him, and as much as she _thought_ she knew that he loved her, she was beginning to fear that maybe his feelings had changed, and maybe he just didn't anymore.


	29. I Need Space Too

**A/N: Very, very brief author's note cause I have to leave in like, three seconds. xD Thank you all for the reviews, alerts, favorites, ect. The response to last chapter was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. xD In this chapter, we get some insight into what's going through Booth's mind during all of this. **

**I know I have a PM in my inbox, but I don't have time to respond to it at the moment, so I _promise_ I will respond when I get home. **

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

"I Need Space Too"

Brennan was sleeping on the couch when she heard the door to she and Booth's apartment open and shut, realizing, when she heard only gentle noises, that he was being extra quiet to make sure he didn't wake her up.

"Booth?" She asked, in a sleepy voice, her eyes fluttering open.

"Hi," he kept his voice in a whisper, even though she was awake now, "I got you a hot chocolate if you want it. If not, no worries."

"Thank you," she told him, sitting up and shrugging the throw blanket off of her shoulders, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. When he went to put Christian, who was now sound asleep, in his crib, Brennan followed him into the baby's room, "would you like me to put the stroller away?"

"Would you?" He asked, having to wake the baby up in order to change him back into his lighter clothes before he put him back in the crib to sleep.

When the sudden movement and the removal of his pacifier woke Christian up, he whined, beginning to squirm.

"Relax, bub, I know you had a long day," Booth attempted to soothe him, checking to make sure he didn't need his diaper changed before he redressed him and set him down in the crib, where he immediately began to fall back asleep.

As soon as he stepped out of the baby's room, he felt a pair of small arms around him, and was being suffocated by the scent of jasmine shampoo. Even though it took a minute to process, Booth reluctantly wrapped his arms around her as well, allowing her to hold him close, breathing in his scent. Normally, when she hugged him, Brennan felt loved and cherished, but that day, she felt as if he was hugging her simply because she was hugging him.

"I love you," her words were muffled by the fabric of his shirt, "God, I love you so much, Booth. And I don't ever want you to think that I don't."

"Why would I-"

"Shh," Brennan hushed him, pressing a small kiss to his lips to silence him, "last night...you said you loved me and I didn't say it back."

"I know," his voice grew a bit more solemn, "I noticed."

"I do love you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah."

Brennan frowned, pulling back a little bit so she could brush her palm over the line of his jaw, seeing that his eyes were not warm and affectionate like they usually were.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked, looking into his eyes, knowing that he couldn't look at her and lie to her face.

"Yes," she was surprised by his answer.

Apparently he was making no bones about the fact that he was mad. Booth was usually not so cut and dry with things like that. He would usually tell her that he was annoyed, but in a few minutes he would be fine, or that he wasn't even mad to begin with. 'Yes' was an answer that she didn't hear very often when asking if he was angry with her.

"Well what can I do to make it so you aren't?" She asked, stroking the side of his face gently as she spoke, hoping the gentle motion would butter him up slightly, even though it didn't seem to be working in her favor.

His jaw was still tight, and his eyes were still cold. He didn't seem to be the Booth that she fell in love with at the moment. When she thought about it, she'd came to the conclusion that he seemed so different because she had never seem him this angry at her. They had fights, but never like this. The last time they even came close to fighting this badly was when Sweets told him that Brennan was sleeping with Sully behind his back.

"Nothing," Booth pushed her hand gently away from his face, not feeling in the mood for her affection at the moment, "I just need time, Bones."

"And space?" She asked.

"Yeah," once again, his answer surprised her, "I need space too."

"Okay," Brennan couldn't conceal the hurt in her voice, "I'll go somewhere, if that's what you want."

"No, I'll go," he moved passed her to get his keys, not wanting to make any eye contact because he knew that he didn't want to look at her when she was hurt like this, especially when he was the cause of it, "I'm sure you want to spend time with Chris. I've had him all day."

Brennan wanted to tell him that she was sorry, that she terminated her partnership with Ricky because she wanted this to work, but, before she could think of the right thing to say, he had left, closing the door quietly behind him.

* * *

><p>Booth was sitting at the bar, his right hand on his glass of scotch, and his left laying flat against the wooden surface as he gazed at his wedding ring. There was nothing he wanted more than for he and Brennan to make up, and for their marriage to get back on track, but he knew it wasn't that easy. She wasn't putting forth the same effort that he was into making their relationship work, and it was growing increasingly more frustrating.<p>

They needed today to spend together, to talk about everything and try to put it in the past and move forward, but Brennan had decided that it was better to avoid him all day and try to pretend that none of it happened. Apparently spending time with Ricky was more important to her than trying to make her marriage work, because Booth knew, without a doubt, that, that was what she was doing. She reeked of cologne when she got home, and, even though he didn't know _exactly_ whose cologne it was, he knew that she wouldn't have been spending that much time in such close quarters that she would smell like it, with any other man but Ricky. Even though he knew it was irrational, the fears that she slept with him kept flickering through his mind. Why else would she have been in so much contact with him that she smelled like him? Hodgins had told him about the day when he found out that he and Brennan had something going on, because he could smell Booth all over her. And, when Hodgins smelled him on her, Booth knew that she smelled like him because they were doing a lot more than just hanging out.

The thought of his wife touching Ricky Hernandez the way that she touched him made him sick to his stomach. The thought of her having sex, not making love, with his co-worker, and then coming home and acting as if it wasn't a big deal, made his jaw tighten in anger. He knew he should have expected this. Temperance Brennan didn't believe in monogamy. She had even told him that she wouldn't see a problem in him sleeping with other women, so why would she think it was wrong for her to sleep with other men? He wanted to shake her by the shoulders, remind her that this was _not_ an open marriage, but he knew he was kidding himself. If she didn't believe in monogamy, who was he to think he would miraculously change her mind?

"Hi," an unfamiliar voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

He turned to look at who had taken a seat next to him. He had to admit, she was beautiful. She was tall and thin, but not too thin, had long, curly, brown hair that fell to her shoulders, paired with bright blue eyes, like the sky, not like his wife's, which were more like the ocean.

The woman smiled when he looked at her.

"What are you drinking?" she asked him, and he noticed, only then, that she had a slight hint of an Irish accent.

"Me?" Booth chuckled lightly, "Just scotch. But I'm not really drinking anymore."

"Well I'm Irish, I'm definitely still drinking. It _is_ only seven o' clock, you know," she laughed lightly, holding out her hand to him, "I'm Kathleen."

Booth shook her hand when she offered it to him.

"Seeley Booth," he told her.

"So, Seeley Booth," she started, turning herself around in her barstool so she was facing him, her elbow on the bar and her chin propped against her hand, "you look upset. A man as handsome as you should not be frowning like that. Have you been dumped recently? You look like you have."

Booth laughed bitterly, circling the top of his glass with his index finger.

"I feel like I have," he admitted.

"Well if she gave up a face like that, then she's not worth it," Kathleen shrugged, "if you, you know, want to get back at her...my apartment's only a block away. Nothing cures the soul like some passionate hate sex."

Even though he knew she was only kidding, he couldn't imagine that she would have objected if he happened to agree.

"Kathleen," Booth laughed lightly, showing her his ring, "I appreciate the offer though."

"Oh God, I am so sorry," she blushed, feeling immensely embarrassed, "this always happens to me. I always flirt with the wrong ones. The good ones...they're all either gay or married."

"Well, I might not be married for too much longer," he told her, motioning for the bartender to bring him another drink, even though he was supposed to have cut himself off after the last one, "I think my wife wants to get a divorce."

Kathleen looked at him sympathetically, ordering her own drink before she responded.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, sincerely, "that's never fun."

"Yeah," Booth agreed, in a low voice, "apparently I'm just...not good enough for her anymore. She'd rather be with Ricky, because he's younger than me, or maybe because she's just more attracted to him than she is to me."

"There's another man?" Kathleen asked.

"I don't know," Booth huffed, taking a sip of his scotch as soon as the bartender set it down in front of him, "maybe. I don't know if she's slept with him yet...but she wants to."

And he knew that for a fact. Why wouldn't she want to? He was younger than her, he was a good looking guy, and he was extremely kind to her. Not to mention, Booth thought, that he wasn't nearly as messed up as he was. Ricky wasn't abused on a daily basis as a kid. Ricky hadn't killed so many people that he nearly lost count. This guy had everything going for him.

"You don't know that," Kathleen tried to cheer him up, patting his shoulder affectionately, "I'll let you in on a little secret, Seeley. Women don't always want to sleep with the younger guys. Older guys have more experience. Plus, if she didn't love you, why would she have married you?"

"She does love me," Booth assured her, "or she did at least. Temperance...she's not like everyone else. That's why it's hard for you to understand. If she is sleeping with this guy, she doesn't think she's doing anything wrong. She doesn't think people should be limited to one partner. She doesn't believe that one person can satisfy all of someone's needs."

"Maybe you changed her mind," Kathleen tried.

"I didn't," Booth laughed bitterly, "she's the most pigheaded woman I've ever met in my life. No way I changed her mind," he took another sip of his drink, "I'm sorry I dragged you into all of this. You don't need to listen to my marital problems."

"I don't mind," she smiled, "anything to help."

"Thanks," he mumbled a quiet thank you, still not wanting to push all of his issues off onto this woman who was just trying to have a drink at the bar.

It was quiet for only a few seconds before Kathleen spoke again.

"Have you talked to her?"

"Have I talked to who?"

"Your wife, Tempest."

"Temperance," Booth corrected her with a chuckle, "and no. What am I supposed to say?"

"Lay it down straight," Kathleen pressed her palm flat to the bar for effect, "I've had my fair share of screwed up relationships, and I know how you need to handle something like this. You ask her for a straight answer. Just yes or no. Tell her no funny business, you just need to know the facts. Ask her if she's sleeping with this guy, and ask her what she wants in regards to your relationship."

"I don't know. Sometimes the bold approach doesn't work with her," Booth laughed lightly, thinking of how poorly Brennan would react to that sort of confrontation, "but I guess I'll try to talk to her about it."

Kathleen smiled, feeling somewhat proud of herself for helping.

"That's the spirit," she gave him a playful nudge in the shoulder, "it's better than doing nothing. If she's mad, then she's mad. Nothing you can do about it, other than come back here and pour your heart out to me again."

"Again, sorry about that."

"I was only kidding," she assured him, "trust me, all my friends think that just because I took a few psychology courses in college, that I'm the go-to girl for problems."

"Well you brought that upon yourself, taking those classes," Booth joked, standing up and putting his jacket back on, reaching into his pocket to get some money, "I have a friend who's a psychologist, and he's definitely everyone's go-to guy."

"Maybe I should go to him myself," Kathleen told him, "I'll get some insight as to why I'm always flirting with married men."

"I can help you with that one," Booth tossed enough money on the bar for the two of them, "check the left hand before you strike up conversation," before she could respond, he was leaving, calling to the bartender over his shoulder, "the money's for me and my friend Kathleen there."


	30. We Need To Fix This

**A/N: Hello everyone. =] Thanks for all your feedback on the last few chapters. This one isn't as angsty, so sorry for those of you who are angst lovers (if there are any out there xD). And for those of you who thought Booth was going to sleep with Kathleen, I assure you, B&B are _not_ going to sleep with other people while they're still together. So no more need to worry about that, because I've clarified. xD**

Chapter Thirty:

"We Need To Fix This"

An exhausted Brennan was sleeping on top of she and her husband's made bed, still dressed in her clothes from the day, shoes and all. When Booth saw her, he felt sorry that having the baby in the house had made her so exhausted that she was falling asleep on top of the covers fully dressed. He went over to the foot of their bed to carefully remove her shoes, setting the heels on the near the door when he did. In her sleeping state, Brennan could still feel her shoes being removed, and she squirmed slightly.

"Baby?" She murmured unconsciously.

Booth had to laugh lightly at how the pet name that she hated so very much slipped through her lips when she was half asleep.

"No, not baby," he whispered with a small laugh, as he pulled the covers gently out from under her to cover her in them, hearing her make another small noise when he did, "just me."

When he got into bed next to her, spooning her gently from behind, she sighed in relief. Last night they slept in the same bed, but it was the first time in a very, very long time that they didn't sleep cuddled up with one another. They just stayed on their own side of the bed, not speaking and not daring to touch the other, so having his arms around her felt nice.

"Bones?" He asked, after a few minutes of cuddling in silence.

"Mmm?"

"You awake?"

"Yes."

Booth ran his fingers gently through her hair, kissing her temple softly.

"What did you do today?" He asked.

Brennan yawned and turned herself around so she was facing him, looking slightly confused when he half smiled and smoothed her hair away from her eyes.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because you were gone for a while," he told her.

He was about to make up some lame excuse about how he was just curious as to what she was up to, but then remembered what Kathleen had told him. He had to be straight with her. No beating around the bush, no trying to avoid an argument. If he wanted an honest answer, he was going to have to get it by taking a direct approach.

"I know you were with Ricky today," he saw her eyebrows furrow when he was so blunt with her, "what were you guys doing?"

"Well actually, Booth, since you asked, we went to get something to eat, and then I thought, 'you know, I'd really like to cheat on my husband right about now'. So we went back to his apartment and had sex," she paused, an irritated look on her face, "is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Bones, sarcasm doesn't suit you," he told her, looking her in the eyes with a dead serious expression, "now is not the time to screw with me. Because if this turns into another blow-out, we're not going to be able to salvage our relationship," his expression softened a bit when he saw the look of hurt and fear swimming in her eyes, "I know it's scary, baby, but that's why we need to talk. We need to settle this, because I don't want to fight with you anymore. I want to go back to the way things were."

"Me too," Brennan said softly, "I'm sorry for the sarcastic response before. We just went to get something to eat, that's all. I went to him to tell him that I wanted to work with you again, and we decided to grab a late breakfast."

Booth pushed the blankets off of him, sitting up straight and looking down at her as she propped herself up on her elbow.

"You smelled like him," he informed her, "let me rephrase...I'm not sure if you smelled like _him_, but you smelled like cologne. And someone's scent doesn't get on you by just being around them."

"We hugged, Booth, that's all," she promised, sitting up straight as well so they were back at eye level with one another, "he must have just sprayed himself before we did. I'll admit, it was a bit of a long hug, but there was nothing romantic or sensual about it. It was a hug, friend to friend, because I was in a bad place this morning."

Booth felt like someone had just stabbed him in the stomach when she spoke the simple, innocent words.

"You used to come to me when you were upset," his low voice sounded pained as he reached over to touch her cheek gently, drawing her eyes to his, "baby...what happened to us?"

"Nothing," Brennan's voice was desperate, as she took his face between her hands to look at him with honest eyes, "nothing happened to us. You always tell me, whenever I start to worry about our relationship, that it's just a rough patch. That is what this is. It's a rough patch."

"No, Bones," Booth could see her eyes well up with tears when he spoke the words that they both needed to hear, "this is more than a rough patch. We need to fix this. And soon," he wiped away a tear when it trickled down her cheek, "don't cry, baby," he laughed weakly, "I don't want you to cry. I just want us to get our relationship back on track. For me, and for you, and for Christian."

Brennan rested her head against his chest, wrapping her arms around his torso and closing her eyes when his fingers stroked slowly over her back.

"I don't want to talk about it," she whispered, feeling content snuggled into her partner's chest as his fingers ran through her hair and down her back in a slow, constant motion, "Booth, I just want us to be back to where we were."

"We have to talk about it, Bones," he whispered apologetically, "we can't just pretend that none of it happened. That'll just make it worse."

Brennan took a deep breath, keeping her cheek pressed against his chest as she tried to think of the words to say.

"I'm still in love with you, if that's what you want to know," she tried.

"It's one of the things I was planning on asking," he told her, twisting a lock of her hair around his finger.

"Well what else?" She asked, "Because I'm willing to answer anything if it'll help. And I won't give you a nasty answer either."

Booth had to chuckle lightly, glad that she got that out in the open, even though he had to wonder if she would change her mind about that when he asked the next question.

"Do you want to sleep with Ricky?" He asked softly.

Brennan shook her head. As much as she wanted to snap at him for even asking that, she promised that she wouldn't give him an attitude, and she intended to keep that promise. She knew if she did, nothing good would come from it anyway, and it would only make things go from bad to worse.

"No," she promised, "I swear to you, Booth. I don't want to sleep with Ricky."

"Have you ever thought about it?"

Brennan picked her head up to look at him curiously.

"Since when are you insecure in your masculinity?" She asked.

"I'm not insecure in my 'masculinity'," he assured her, "but Ricky's young, and he's not half bad looking, and, you know, he pays a lot of attention to you. I know I've been tied up with work lately, and we've both been busy with the baby, but I feel like Ricky spends more time with you than I do. So have you ever thought about it?"

"I've thought about what it would be like to sleep with him, but I never thought about actually doing it," Brennan told him honestly, "you're the only man I want to sleep with. Why do you feel like I need to seek a release with Ricky?"

"Because I feel like I don't pay enough attention to you anymore," he admitted, "I feel like you think I don't care anymore."

"I know you care," she pressed a feather light kiss to the part of his neck that wasn't still covered by the gauze softly, "but, to be honest, I do wish we could spend more time together. Not just by working together, but by, you know, being intimate."

"We can't make love for another three weeks," he kissed her cheek softly in return, "as much as you know I want to," he added in, with a small laugh.

"We don't have to make love to be intimate," she shrugged, "we can just cuddle like we are now, or hug, or kiss," she took his hand in hers, brushing her thumb over the tattoo on the inside of his wrist, "we don't shower together anymore either."

"One of us has to be out here incase the baby starts to cry."

"I did my googling," she saw his lips turn up into a half smile when she used the phrase that he found so very amusing, "and people say that it's okay to leave him in the crib if he's crying in order to take some time for myself. I would have to imagine the same rules apply to you. We obviously can't leave him there for extended periods of time, but if he starts to cry while we are showering, it won't hurt if he sits there for a few minutes."

Booth groaned and cupped her cheek, with a small laugh.

"Something about that just feels wrong," he admitted, "leaving our son in the crib screaming so we can make out in the shower?"

"No one said anything about making out," she smiled mischievously, "it would be strictly to get clean. I don't know what kind of perverted fantasies are running through your mind."

"Shut up, Bones," he laughed lightly, noticing, only then, that they had gotten completely sidetracked, "hey, you're sneaky, Temperance Brennan. Trying to change the subject."

"I thought we were done," she swore, taking a short pause to look at her husband curiously, "_are_ we done? Do you have anything else you would like to ask me?"

Booth half smiled, unable to resist her charm.

"I guess we're done," he reluctantly let her have her way, since he couldn't think of anything else he wanted to talk about off the top of his head, "one more question though."

"Well if you have one more question, then I can assure you I have one more answer."

"Alright," Booth laughed, "do you love me?"

Brennan smiled and leaned in to kiss him gently.

"I love you, Seeley Joseph Booth," she smiled, running her fingers through his hair when she spoke, "would you like to know what part I love the most?"

"If you insist."

Brennan kissed his chest softly.

"This," she looked back up at him with a smile, tracing her index finger over the place she had just kissed, "this is what I like the best."

"My chest?" Booth asked, playfully.

"Your heart," she was giving him a disapproving look until she realized he was only kidding, causing her to smile again, "well, your metaphoric heart. I'm not entirely sure why people believe someone's soul is based in the heart. In reality, all your heart does is-"

"Pump blood, I know," Booth smiled charmingly, "I love your squinty brain."

"I love _you_," she kissed him again.

"I love you too, Temperance," he wrapped his arms back around her to pull her close, "I love you so much, and I'm glad we're getting back on track."

"Me too," Brennan closed her eyes again, unable to stop herself from smiling, "I'm glad we aren't fighting anymore."

"Yeah, we're past that," Booth chuckled, tipping her head up so he could kiss her lips once again, "we're done with that. No more fighting, okay?"

"I believe I can live with that," she took her turn to kiss him.

They didn't separate their lips that time until Booth remembered something else that he had wanted to ask her before they started fighting, which felt like such a long time ago. Brennan was surprised when he pulled his lips away from hers with a small noise, causing her eyes to widen in surprise and anticipation, since he looked slightly excited.

"Bones!"

"What?" She still had a bit of an alarmed expression.

"There's an FBI charity event in a month," he told her, wiping his lips with the back of his hand after he spoke, "and I don't have a date."

"Booth," she complained, looking up at the ceiling, "you know I hate events."

"Oh, come on, Bones," he tried to put on his best persuasive voice, "it's only one night, and you know I can't show up there alone. The guys'll think we're having problems."

"We _are_ having problems," she reminded him.

"Problems that we're in the process of fixing," he nudged her gently with his elbow, "and they're not so bad that you can't keep your husband company at this mandatory charity event, which, you know, happens to make me a little anxious."

"What about Christian?" She asked, trying to find any possible excuse to get out of going to this event, "I need to be here to watch him."

"Let him spend the night with Angela," Booth shrugged, "he'll be two months by then, and you know Angela's been dying to keep him for a night."

"I'm not sure about that."

"Bones..."

"I will think about it, Booth," she kissed his cheek apologetically, "it isn't for another month, we have plenty of time."

Booth let out a long, dramatic sigh as he stood up from the bed.

"Fine," he reluctantly agreed, starting to shed his clothes to change into something more comfortable, "you have three weeks to decide. And if you don't, I'm taking Perotta."

Brennan couldn't help but to laugh lightly at his playful threat.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, but I would," he smiled back, "I so would."

**So even though they're okay for now, we still haven't gotten to the big angst I was talking about before, so their problems aren't quite over yet.**


	31. Trust Me, We're Not Fighting

**A/N: Hello. =] Sorry about the minor delay on this chapter. My laptop charger broke for, what seems like, the twenty fifth time, so I had to order a new one and then wait for it to come. But, without further ado, here's the next chapter. **

**We're going to take a break for the angst for a little bit, so this chapter is just some family fluff, and Brennan teasing a sex-deprived Booth. xD **

**Someone asked what chapter the big angst is going to be in, and my answer is that I'm not really sure. There's a few more things I want to do before it though. Also, I made a little uh-oh in the wording of my last A/N that upset a few of you and had some of you asking questions. I just want to say that I read all of your reviews, and heard your questions, but I can't answer them right now without giving anything away. Sorry.**

Chapter Thirty-One:

"Trust Me, We're Not Fighting"

"Booth, stop," Brennan laughed lightly, having to raise her voice to be heard over the running water when her husband smoothed more body wash onto her shoulder, kissing her neck softly, "I think I was more than clean after the second application of body wash."

"Don't pretend you want to get out," he laughed lightly in response, feeling her kiss his chest gently in return to his kisses, "unless you're thinking we get out and...you know..."

"I _do_ want to get out, but I don't want to 'you know'," she poked his side, feeling him jerk in response, "I have to start looking for a nanny. You know I'm going back to work next week, and I still don't have anyone to watch Chris while I'm-"

"Shh," Booth hushed her, pressing a finger to her lips, "work and Chris. Two things that I don't want to talk about while in the shower with you."

"Well perhaps if we got out of the shower, like I suggested, we could resume the conversation in a place that would make you more comfortable."

"I don't think I'm clean yet."

Brennan kissed him softly before cutting the water off, despite her husband's protest.

"You sure you don't want to have a little fun before Chris wakes up?" He asked, as she grabbed the towels that were hung over the shower door, handing one to him before she wrapped herself in the other.

"Yes, I'm sure," she sounded just slightly annoyed, "there really are things I have to do, that are more important than sex, before we go pick up Parker to bring him to his baseball game," she laughed a small laugh, "and you're going to need your energy, Coach Booth."

Even though she made the small joke, Booth was having a hard time seeing the humor in it at that moment.

"Bones," he groaned, even though he had to smile when she wrapped her arms around his neck after helping him secure the towel around his waist, "your doctor cleared you for sex last week and we still haven't taken advantage of it."

"I'm sorry, Booth, but sex has not been appealing to me lately," she bit the inside of her lip, her eyebrows slightly furrowed in worry, "I thought you would be more understanding than this. You said we'll do it when I'm ready, but I feel like you've been pressuring me."

Booth was the one to look worried now as he cupped her towel-covered waist between his hands.

"I'm sorry if that's how you feel," he apologized sincerely, "I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. When you're ready, I'm ready."

"I'm aware. You've been ready for a long time now, and I've been making you wait."

"I can wait," he promised, "I'm a big boy."

Brennan kissed him again, letting her lips linger on his for a little while this time, breaking the kiss when she heard Christian begin to cry from the other room. When she pulled away, Booth leaned forward to keep their lips connected, only to feel her hand come up to cover his lips with a laugh.

"Chris is crying," she stated.

"C'mon, you're the one who said we can leave him in there for a little while."

"I won't be able to get into the kiss if I can hear him crying. And it's not like we're going to have sex anyway," she shrugged, stepping out of the shower to go get her clothes, "can you get him, though? Because I want to find a nanny business before we leave."

"Bones, it's gonna take you more than a couple hours to find someone who's going to stay with our son," Booth told her, "we don't want just anyone watching Christian."

"There are plenty of reliable places to find a nanny. I just need to find a company right now. The nanny I will have to meet personally," she slipped on her panties under the towel before she dropped it to the floor, slipping her bra over her shoulders, "I'm not an incompetent mother, Booth."

"I know, babe," he couldn't help but to admire her curves from behind, "I don't think you're incompetent, I just think sometimes you give people a little too much credit. You see the good in people, which usually isn't a bad thing, but when it comes to finding someone who's going to take care of our son for the majority of the day, we need to be cautious."

"You think the nanny is going to kidnap him?" She asked, feeling perfectly comfortable digging through the dresser drawer in her undergarments to find something to wear, even as she knew her husband was watching her.

"No, not necessarily, it's just..." he paused, trying to find the right way to word it, "in the field that we work in, we see all of the terrible things that some people are capable of, and it just makes me a little more skeptical of people. And I know it's wrong, because most people are good...but when it comes to Chris, it's better to be safe than sorry, you know?"

"I know," she assured him, "you just love our son, and you wouldn't want to put him in danger. It's understandable. But you have to trust me when I say that I would never do anything that could possibly cause Christian any harm."

"I do," Booth assured her, dressing as quickly as he could so he could go take Christian out of the crib, "I believe you, Bones, and I trust you. It's other people I have a hard time trusting."

"Well I think you need to start giving people the benefit of the doubt," Brennan turned to face him once she was finished getting dressed.

"You think I'm too hard on people?" He asked, with a small half smile.

"I think you assume that a person is capable of bad things when you meet them," Brennan told him honestly, brushing her fingers affectionately through his damp hair, "and that's not your fault. Working with murder and being in the army probably has a lot to do with that, but maybe you should assume that everyone you meet is good until they give you a reason to think otherwise."

"I'll certainly try. I can give you that much."

Brennan smiled proudly, leaning up to kiss him softly.

"You're evolving, Booth," she told him.

"I know," he laughed lightly at the cocky statement.

Brennan laughed as well, letting go of his shoulders so she could go get her laptop.

"Wear the white polo today," she told him, rather than asked.

"Why? What are you up to?"

"Nothing, I swear," she held her hands up in a surrender.

"Then why are you pushing for the white polo?" His questioning look was playful.

"White cotton on bronzed skin?" She smiled back at him, even though hers was more flirtatious than playful, "Very sexy."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Bones," the sound of Booth's voice pulled her out of her own head, as she turned her attention from the window to her husband, "you know what exactly one week from today is?"<p>

Brennan looked at him curiously.

"Saturday?"

Booth sighed and shook his head.

"Charity event, Bones."

Brennan groaned and looked up with a huff.

"Booth-"

"You said you would make a decision by Monday. It's Saturday," he glanced from the road to look at her, "I'm not saying you have to tell me you'll go. If your answer is no, then say no. I'll just go with Perotta and we'll-"

"You're not going to go with Perotta if I say no," she muttered, sounding slightly annoyed, "and, just so you know, even if you did go with Perotta, I wouldn't be jealous."

"Except you would," Brennan noticed the cocky smirk he had on his face, "you would be _so_ jealous."

"Sometimes I wonder what planet you live on. I don't get jealous when you speak to other women. That's childish."

"You got jealous when I was talking to the waitress at the diner."

"I was not-"

"Are you guys fighting?" Parker cut off their little argument from the backseat of the SUV.

"No, we're not fighting," Brennan assured him, "trust me, we're not fighting."

With the way they were fighting a few weeks ago, this kind of bickering seemed mild, and Brennan knew for a fact that things could have been much worse than that. Which was why she wanted to make sure that this was not what Parker considered to be fighting.

"Dad? Why do I have to play baseball?" He asked, completely jumping topics.

Brennan was grateful that Parker had turned the attention to the baseball game he was about to play so they didn't have to discuss the charity event anymore.

"You don't _have_ to play baseball," Booth told him, sounding completely lost, "I thought you liked it?"

"I did...but I stink."

"No, you don't stink," Brennan jumped in, "you actually smell quite nice."

"He means at baseball, Bones," Booth whispered to her quickly before he addressed his son's insecurities, "listen, Parker, you don't stink. I don't know why you would think that."

"I'm not as good as Bobby Daniels. He said so," Parker told him, "and today we're playing against his team, and he'll probably win. His dad coaches his team, and he used to play in the minor leagues."

"Minor leagues. Which means that he wasn't good enough to play in the major leagues," Booth reminded him, having to take a shot at the man who he wasn't very fond of, "bastard."

He muttered the word low enough that Parker didn't hear, but loud enough that his wife did.

"Booth," Brennan's tone was scolding.

"No, I'm not saying anything wrong," he refused to apologize, especially because the man wasn't even in the car, "I've never liked Randy Daniels. And now his kid is telling Parker that he isn't as good as him? I should take his kid's autographed bat and knock him out with it."

"Bobby's bat was signed by Derek Jeter," Parker told his step-mother, "isn't that cool?"

"I don't know if that's cool, because I have no idea who that is," Brennan told him.

"And his bat wasn't signed by Derek Jeter," Booth filled his son in, "Bobby's bat was signed by Bobby's dad. He told him Derek Jeter signed it and gave it to him as a birthday present."

"Really?" Parker sounded fascinated by this new piece of information.

"Don't say anything to Bobby though. I don't want to have to deal with Randy."

"That does not sound like good parenting," Brennan stated, "he deceived his child into thinking that his baseball bat was signed by some sort of celebrity so he only had to spend ten dollars on a birthday gift?"

"Now do you see why I don't like the guy?" Booth asked, "He's a bad parent, and his kid is a pain in the ass."

"Ooh! You owe five cents to the swear jar, dad!"

Booth drew in a long breath when he realized the word had slipped out of his mouth, knowing that it was going to remind Parker of his latest obsession. He, Rebecca, and Rebecca's boyfriend had started a 'swear jar', and whenever someone cursed, they had to put a set amount of money into it, depending on how bad the word was. And, at the end of the week, Parker would get the money from the swear jar, so, lately, he had been listening to every word everyone said in order to catch them cursing.

"Bones, would you get a nickle out of my wallet and give it to Parker please?" He asked.

Brennan reached into her husband's pocket to take out his wallet, digging around for a nickle and handing one to an overjoyed looking Parker when she found it.

"Last week I got fifty cents because mom said the 'f' word when she dropped her make-up in the sink," he told them, putting the nickle into his pocket, "I was in my room, but I heard her, so I told her she still owed fifty cents, and she put it in there afterwards."

"What exactly is the swear jar?" Brennan asked curiously.

"When you swear, you have to put money in the jar," he told her.

"Oh," Brennan laughed lightly at how simple the concept was, "well I'll make sure your father doesn't start to curse when you're not around. If he does, I'll make sure he gives you the money next time he sees you."

"Thanks, Bones, you're the best," Parker smiled, as they parked in the parking lot of the baseball field when the arrived.

When they got there, Parker jumped out of the car and ran ahead of them after getting his bat and glove out of the trunk, while Brennan took Christian's car seat to carry him in, being careful not to rattle him when she did.

"Are you really going to make me give Parker money every time I curse?" He asked her, looking down at the baby, who was staring up at him with big brown eyes, and tickling his side gently.

"No, of course not," Brennan had to laugh as she closed the door once they were all situated, "I'm planning on getting you back into bed soon, which would mean that by the end of our lovemaking, you would owe your life savings to the swear jar."

"Hey," Booth laughed, nudging her gently with his elbow, "I'm not that bad. And besides, dirty talk doesn't count. As long as I'm not cursing, I don't owe anything to the damn swear jar."

"If you say so," she laughed lightly, allowing Parker to walk ahead of them, since Brennan had to go slow because she was carrying the baby while she walked, "and by the way, you owe some more because you just said 'damn'."

"Well you just said it too, so how about we just say it cancels out?"

Brennan laughed, leaning into him when she felt his arm around her shoulders.

"I guess we could say that," she agreed, wrapping her free arm around his waist and resting her head against his shoulder as they walked.


	32. I Am Your Partner After All

**A/N: Okay, so this chapter turned out to be a little longer than I was anticipating, but that doesn't mean you can't give your feedback, right? xD Honestly though, I appreciate you guys reading/reviewing/adding to favorites/ect., it means a lot to me. It's nice to know that people are actually reading what I'm**** writing. **

Chapter Thirty-Two:

"I Am Your Partner After All"

Brennan was sitting in the stands at Parker's baseball game with Christian in her arms and his car seat set next to her. She was beginning to regret choosing to sit where she did, since she had decided to sit behind, arguably, the three most annoying women she had ever encountered in her life. They weren't doing anything to her personally, but they were all gossiping like a bunch of teenagers and talking about their problems, and that didn't fail to get under her skin.

She was trying to pay attention to Christian and not the women in front of hers' conversations, but she couldn't help but to eavesdrop when she heard the mention of her husband.

"You know, but at least the boys are having fun," the dark haired woman said, fixing her sunglasses when they tipped downwards, "and, I mean, I don't mind it too much either. There's plenty of men here who aren't too hard to look at. Like Noah's coach? Whose father is he?"

"Oh he's little Parker Booth's dad," the woman with the curly hair told her, "I forgot Noah just started playing on their team this year. Nate and Parker have been playing on the same team for a couple years now, and I'm pretty sure Parker's dad always coaches their team."

"Well he certainly makes watching the kids play baseball more enjoyable," Noah's mother said, with a suggestive tone to her voice.

"Oh, Lorraine, who are you kidding?" The third woman, a petite blonde woman, finally spoke her first words since the start of the conversation about Booth, "You don't date men our age. Especially not men with kids."

"I know I usually date down, Stephanie, but this guy would be an exception," she laughed, her childish giggle causing Brennan to cringe just a bit, "imagine how jealous Kurt would be if I was dating someone like him?"

"He works in law enforcement too," Nate's mom told them, "which just makes him that much better."

"Yes, I need a man to keep me safe," Lorraine tossed her dark hair back, as her friends laughed and rolled their eyes playfully, "what kind of law enforcement?"

"I think he's a state trooper," Nate's mother said.

"He's not a state trooper," Stephanie, the blonde, sounded annoyed, "and isn't he married to Parker's mom?"

"No, I'm friendly with Rebecca, and she has a boyfriend right now," Nate's mom told them, "so, as far as I know, he's as single as they come."

Brennan wanted so badly to tell them that he wasn't 'as single as they come', but refrained, not wanting to let them know that she was listening in on their conversation.

"I might just have to thank him for being such a great coach on the way home then," Lorraine sounded proud when she spoke, exchanging glances between her friends, "and you guys can't even complain, because I saw him first."

"I'm still married," Stephanie reminded her, "even though I think Randy cares more about Bobby and his future in baseball than our marriage."

Brennan recognized the two names and assumed that she was Mrs. Daniels.

"So what does the mysterious Mr. Booth _actually_ do for a living?" Lorraine got back on the subject of Booth quickly, "Because Kelly says he's a state trooper, but..."

"He's not," Stephanie Daniels assured her, "he's definitely not a state trooper. He does something more important than that. I think he's in the CIA."

"CIA? Isn't that secretive?" Lorraine asked.

"I don't know, but that's what he does," Stephanie shrugged, "I guess you'll have to ask while you're trying to drag him into your bed."

"Oh, yes. I'll have to ask him _all_ about the CIA," Brennan was beginning to grow annoyed by the suggestive tone in Lorraine's voice when she talked about trying to seduce her husband, "I'm sure they keep him in great shape over there."

When she couldn't listen to them talk nonsense anymore, Brennan finally decided that it was time to intervene. Listening to their conversation was borderline painful, not only because they all wanted to sleep with her husband, but because they were saying things as if they knew what they were talking about, when they didn't.

"FBI," the three women turned around to look at her when she spoke, "he works for the FBI, not the CIA."

"Oh," Lorraine sounded surprised that Brennan knew, not only what they were talking about, but, apparently, more about this man than any of them did, "I'm sorry, but how do you know that?"

"Booth and I are close," she told them, glancing down at Christian who was looking up at her adoringly, "we have been for quite some time. I'm actually here to watch Parker."

"Parker's a good kid, isn't he?" Nate's mother, Kelly, attempted to bring her into the conversation, having no idea that she was not at all interested in talking to them.

"Yeah, he's a pretty great kid," Brennan agreed, turning her attention back to Christian, making sure it was clear that they didn't have to feel obligated to start talking to her now, especially since they knew that she knew about the man they were conversing about.

When Lorraine went to speak to her friends again, Stephanie cut her off.

"Look at Bobby out there playing first base," she sounded proud when she spoke about her son, "isn't he adorable? And so talented too."

"Well he better focus, because Parker's batting now, and I'll tell you, that kid's got talent too," Kelly told her, but Brennan had to wonder if she was only saying that because she knew the person behind her was a family friend, "he hit a home run last week."

"My Bobby hits home runs all the time," Stephanie brushed it off as if it was no big deal, "it isn't that spectacular."

Brennan stopped paying attention by that point so she could watch Parker, instead of just getting herself annoyed by listening to what these women had to say about how great their kids were. She watched as he hit the ball and began to run to first base.

"Go Bobby!" His mother cheered, as the ball rolled towards him and he sprinted to pick it up, tagging the base before Parker could reach it.

Even though Brennan could not clearly see the expression on his face, she saw him yank his helmet off, his blonde curls bouncing when he did, and carry it back to the dugout, looking at the ground when he did. After he and his father shared a few words, he tossed the helmet onto the ground and went outside the gate of the field, making his way over to a bench a little ways away.

"I guess he doesn't take losing very well," Stephanie laughed lightly.

Brennan was about to say something to her, but felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, which cut her off before she could. When she opened it, she saw a short text from her husband.

**Talk him down, please?**

Closing her phone and setting Christian back in his car seat, she carried him over to the bench where Parker was sitting, swinging his legs and kicking at the dirt. He didn't look up when she joined him, taking a seat next to him and placing Christian on her left side.

"Hi," she greeted him, after a few seconds, when she realized that he wasn't going to talk to her on his own.

"Hi," he mumbled.

Brennan sighed and looked at the side of his face, unsure of what to say. She was normally good with Parker, but she never had to try to comfort him before, and she couldn't help but to fear that she was going to say the wrong thing.

"Are you okay?" She asked, figuring that was a standard question.

Parker shrugged.

"Did you have a fight with your father?" She tried again.

"No," he answered, with a shake of his head.

"Then why are you upset?"

"Because I stink. Bobby even said so after he got me out."

"Well Bobby shouldn't have said that," she watched his feet as he kicked at a pebble, "you don't stink, Parker. In fact, the woman in front of me said that you were exceptionally good, and that Bobby had to stay focused in order to get you out."

He finally looked up at her, seeming to have softened up a bit.

"Really?" He asked.

"Really," she confirmed.

She took a long pause, giving him a chance to speak. It took him a while before he finally did, his voice quiet and slightly sad sounding.

"If I go back out there, Bobby will make fun of me," he turned his gaze back to the ground, "and besides, dad's probably mad at me for getting out."

"Parker, your father would never be mad at you for something like that," she assured him, "he loves you, and he doesn't rest too much importance on this game."

Parker finally cracked a smile, and Brennan smiled back.

"So go back out there and try your best," she finished.

"Okay," he smiled, standing up from his spot on the bench, "but can we go get ice cream once the game is over?"

"Yeah," Brennan laughed lightly, "we can get ice cream."

* * *

><p>"Lose the shirt," Brennan tugged on the bottom of her husband's white polo, the one she suggested he wear that day, when she spoke of it.<p>

Booth complied to her wishes, tugging the shirt over his head and tossing it aside.

"Where are we doing this?" He asked, "Bed? Floor?"

"The bed is fine," she shrugged, disappearing into the bathroom so she could change out of her jeans and nice top and slip into her short, silk robe.

After she was changed, she dug the baby oil out from the medicine cabinet, shaking it to make sure there was enough left.

"You know, you were really good with Parker today," she heard her husband's voice coming from their bedroom when he spoke to her, "when he was finished talking to you, it was like he was a whole new person. He really loves you, Bones."

"He's always been fond of me, Booth, but I wouldn't go as far as to say he _loves_ me," she lowered her voice when she joined him in their bedroom, since she wasn't as far from him anymore, "I'm not his mother, and he knows that."

Booth turned over onto his stomach when he saw that she was ready.

"And I think he respects the fact that you don't _try_ to be his mother," Booth told her, able to feel her straddle him carefully, and able to hear the top of the baby oil pop open, "you know, a lot of step mothers try to act like actual mothers. He likes you because you don't. You act like his friend, not his parent."

"Well I'm not his parent, so _acting_ like his parent would be inappropriate," she reminded him, able to feel his skin erupt into goose bumps under her hands when she squirted a bit of oil onto his shoulder blades, smoothing it down his back, "sorry if it's cold."

"No, not cold," he assured her, sighing when her palm dug gently into a pressure point, "God, Bones, you have magic hands. How do you do it?"

"We have been over this numerous times, so I'm not going to explain it again," she laughed lightly, referring to how he always asked where she learned how to massage, and then claimed that she was 'magic', "why are you so tense?"

"Stress," he told her, "stress from work, stress from having the baby in the house," he paused, his voice not sounding as playful anymore, "stress from worrying about our marriage."

"Shh," Brennan hushed him, hearing him groan into the pillow when she released the tension in a particular spot on his back, "I thought we were fine now?"

"We _are_ fine...mmm, a little lower," he paused to instruct her before he continued, "I was just...you know, forget it. We're fine."

"You can speak your mind, Booth."

"I just don't know why you don't want to come to this charity even with me," he told her, honestly, "it...ah...would really mean a lot to me if you came."

"Is this emotional blackmail?" She asked, with a small laugh.

"No, no, of course not," he promised, attempting to crane his neck around to look at her until she place her oily hands on either side and turned his face back into the pillow, "I just want you to come with me, that's all. It's not like I have any other options."

"What about Perotta?" She asked playfully.

"Nah, you wouldn't want me to bring Perotta," he said simply, "if you don't want to go, I'll just go alone. And that's the honest truth."

Brennan couldn't help but to feel touched when she discovered that he wouldn't bring Perotta simply because he knew it would upset her. Booth turned his head again when her hands stopped moving on his back.

"You're a good husband, Booth," she told him, kissing the side of his neck gently, "you really are."

"Yeah, well I try," his back arched slightly when her elbow dug gently into the space between his shoulder blades, relaxing the muscles there, "oh, God, Bones...that's..."

"Good?" She asked, her voice velvety in his ear.

"Better than good," he shivered when he warm breath touched his skin.

Brennan laughed lightly and turned his head again so his forehead was back against the pillow.

"Alright, enough talking," she put a little more oil on her hands before continuing her massage, "you can't relax while you're speaking."

Instead of answering with words, since she had told him to stop speaking, Booth simply made a small noise to acknowledge that he heard her. The massage went on for at least another half hour, the room completely silent other than the occasional sounds of pleasure Booth would make when she would hit the right spot. Just as he felt like he was about to drift off, completely relaxed by her 'magic hands', he felt her breath against his ear again, her voice soft and silky.

"You want a happy ending?" She whispered, kissing the shell of his ear softly after she spoke.

Brennan could feel his skin heat up and the goose bumps return when she spoke the unexpected words.

"Mhm," he mumbled into the pillow.

Brennan traced her tongue gently along the shell of his ear.

"What was that?"

"Yes," his voice was slightly hoarse when he responded for the second time.

Brennan carefully got off of him, moving to the other side of the bed when he was free to move, and touching his shoulder gently with her index finger when she was ready.

"I'm ready when you are," she whispered.

That was all the encouragement he needed, as he turned over onto his side and grabbed her gently by the robe, pulling her down so their lips could meet in a sloppy, passionate kiss. Brennan wiped the remainder of the oil that was on her hands onto his chest, breaking the kiss when she felt his hands move to the belt of her robe so she could watch as he gently slipped the knot out of the silk. He groaned when he saw the purple lingerie she had put on underneath.

"You planned this," he accused, running his hands gently over her stomach.

"I thought maybe tonight would be the night, especially since I was giving you a massage," she shrugged, "so I put them on just incase," she glanced down to look at the matching undergarments, "do you like them?"

Without responding, Booth pulled her down so their lips could meet once again, giving her an answer, as he rolled them over so she was on her back. Brennan laughed lightly at the quick, unexpected motion and looked up at him, able to see that his eyes were darker than they normally were. She could tell he was using every bit of self restraint he had not to ravish her.

"You sure about this?" He had to ask, "Because...this morning you were saying that you didn't want to yet, and that you weren't in the mood lately..."

Brennan moved her hands to deftly unsnap the button on his jeans, noticing how he looked down when she did to watch, the same way she did when he had untied her robe.

"I love you," she told him in a raspy voice, "and I want to make you feel good."

"This isn't about me, Bo-"

Brennan cut him off by pulling him back down to her and connecting their lips again, yanking on the zipper of his jeans to get them down. And then, the last sound either of them wanted to hear filled the room. The sound of Booth's phone.

"No," Booth murmured, shaking his head as he continued to kiss her, simply moving his lips to her neck when she broke the kiss, "they'll call back."

"It...could be important," Brennan spoke between heavy breaths, reaching over to take his phone off of the night stand, pushing it into the hand that was caressing her stomach, "answer."

With a frustrated huff, Booth rolled off of her and onto his back, opening the phone and pressing it to his ear, speaking in a highly agitated tone.

"Booth."

Brennan turned over onto her side to press her lips back to his while he listened to the person on the other end speak.

"You're serious," he took his mouth away from hers to speak, waiting for the other person to finish speaking again before he replied, "yeah, I'll be there. Okay."

He hung up his phone and tossed it back onto the night stand, sitting up with a huff.

"You're never going to believe this," he muttered, buttoning and zipping his pants back up, "there's a body out in the woods, and I've got to go."

"At eight o' clock on a Saturday night?" Brennan asked, propping herself up onto her elbow, "That's extremely inconvenient."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I'm the one who has to go to a crime scene all aroused now."

"Well you won't be going alone," she shrugged, sitting up and retying her robe before getting out of bed, "I'm going to drop Christian off with Max and meet you there," she smiled when she saw the look of surprise on his face, "I am your partner after all."


	33. What's On Your Mind, Booth?

**A/N: Hello. =] So this chapter was actually supposed to be out a couple hours ago, but then the power went out in my neighborhood, so I couldn't post it. xD But, alas, here it is. **

**And I know some of you are asking about when the angst is coming, and the answer is that I still don't know, but I promise I will warn you in the A/N so I don't catch you all off guard. xD Like I said before, there are still a few things I want to do before it, so I'm not quite sure what chapter it'll be in yet. **

Chapter Thirty-Three:

"What's On Your Mind, Booth?"

"Ah, Bones, there you are," Booth was relieved when she finally showed up at the crime scene, pulling her gloves on as she followed him back to where the body was.

"I'm sorry that took so long. I was nearly halfway to Max's when I realized that I left Christian's pacifier and his zebra at home," she told him, pushing her hair into a ponytail, "normally it wouldn't be a big deal, but he's staying the night, so I wanted him to be comfortable, you know? I'm very nervous about leaving him."

"With Max?" Booth asked, continuing before she could answer, "Nah, Max 'll take good care of him. He's done this whole taking care of babies thing before, and look how good you turned out."

Brennan laughed lightly when he nudged her playfully with his elbow.

"Don't try to charm me, Booth," she laughed, putting on her serious face before she kneeled next to the body, "especially when we're standing over a corpse."

"Right, totally inappropriate," he agreed, peering over her shoulder to look at the body that she was examining, waiting a minute or two before he spoke again, "so anything you can tell us?"

"Not much, the body is still pretty fleshy," she told him, "I know she's female, early to mid thirties. I'll have to clean the skull and get Angela to do a facial reconstruction when I get back to the lab, since half of her face was eaten off by wildlife."

Booth winced, his stomach tightening into a knot when she made the morbid observation.

"I mean, with the way she looks she'd have to have been out here a while, right?" He asked.

"No, not necessarily," Brennan shrugged, "there are a lot of animals and bugs out here that contributed to her loss of flesh. She's probably only been out here for two or three days."

"Two or three days?" Booth asked, having to turn away from the body, "Well those rats and birds really did work on her."

"That's exactly what happened. Carnivorous animals out in the woods will eat pretty much any kind of meat they have access too," she informed him, "especially out in these woods, since the resources are scarce. Whoever killed this woman must have known that and figured it would be a good dumping ground. People don't usually come here either."

"A bunch of kids were coming back here to do God knows what and stumbled across her," Booth explained, "if they didn't, she'd probably be rotting here for another month."

Just as he was finishing, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. Without saying anything, he walked over to the small object and picked it up when he saw that it was a wallet, flipping it open and examining the driver's licence inside before brining it back over to his wife.

"Any chance this wallet is hers?" He asked, as Brennan sat up straight and took the wallet out of his hand to examine the picture and the corpse together.

"It's possible," she said, "there are several similarities in their facial structures. Even though I'll need solid proof, this could very possibly be our victim."

Brennan handed the wallet back to him and continued her examination of the body, seeing if there was anything else she could get from it at this point. Booth studied the woman's driver's licence, feeling a sense of grief wash over him, even though he didn't know her personally. She was a pretty woman, and she looked so happy in her picture. He couldn't help but to wonder how people did the things they did to other human beings.

"Adelina Castro," he read aloud, "she was thirty-two. And she has a picture of a little boy in here...probably her son."

Brennan looked up at him sympathetically when she heard the solemn tone in his voice.

"We don't even know if it's her yet, Booth," she tried to comfort him.

"It's her," he said simply, closing the wallet and placing it in an evidence bag, "I know I don't have any logical proof, but I just have a feeling," he paused, watching Brennan as she stood and removed her gloves, "and if this is Adelina, then where is the kid?"

"Maybe he's with the father," Brennan shrugged.

"Or maybe the father killed her and-"

"Booth, please, now you're jumping the gun," she stopped him before he could spin off into a theory that he had made up without any evidence whatsoever, "we don't even know if this Adelina woman is our victim, let alone how she was killed and by whom. They are going to ship the body back to the lab and I will get Zack to clean the bones tomorrow morning. Then we can go from there."

"Bones, you're still on maternity leave," he reminded her, "we haven't found a nanny yet, and you're still supposed to be resting. You know I don't want to work with Zack, but if I have to, I will. You're not ready to come back yet, and that's fine. I'll do field work on my own and consult the brain trust when needed."

"I am ready to go back," she told him, "and don't call my team the 'brain trust'. Max will watch Christian until I can find a nanny. I exchanged emails with a young woman on one of the websites and I am going to meet her in person on Tuesday, so hopefully by Wednesday we'll have someone."

Booth looked slightly uncomfortable, but didn't want to argue with her, especially in front of all of the FBI forensic teams and other people working the crime scene.

"I want to meet her," he told his partner.

"She's going to come over so I can observe how she handles Chris. She'll be there all day, so you'll probably have a chance to meet her before she leaves," she told him, offering him a half smile, "let me just make sure the body gets to the lab safely, and then we can go home."

* * *

><p>It was late by the time they actually made it home, and Brennan had just finished washing her face when her husband joined her in the bathroom. She leaned into his touch when he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, tilting her head back so it touched his shoulder.<p>

"What's on your mind, Booth?" She asked, tracing her fingers over his forearms.

"I don't know," he admitted, tugging her hair out of the hair tie so it fell around her shoulders, "nothing...everything."

Brennan scratched her blunt nails very gently against the skin of his arm.

"Like what?" She asked.

She tilted her head down to look at their reflection for a quick moment before leaning it back against his shoulder, turning it so the tip of her nose was pressed against the side of his neck.

"I've just been thinking about everything I've done in the past," he sighed and looked down at her, seeing her eyes open so they could meet his, "I'm one of them, Bones."

"One of who?" She asked, continuing the constant motion of her fingers on the skin of his arm.

"Them. You know...the people we catch," he clarified.

"Of course you're not," she mumbled, pressing a soft kiss to the fading cut on the side of his throat.

"What separates me from them?" He asked, "If I'm not one of them, then explain that to me. Because all I know is that I've killed fifty plus people. These people who I killed...they may have been considered 'the enemy' to us in the army, but they were someone's children, or parents, or brothers. And I took them away from their families. I took their lives."

"It's different, and you know that," Brennan assured him, "you killed people in order to protect our country," she knew they had this discussion a few times already, but she didn't catch an attitude, knowing that sometimes he just needed to be reassured, "you're not one of them."

Brennan wondered if she had said something wrong when Booth unwrapped his arms from around her waist, only to have her fears die down when he turned her around so she was facing him and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You, and Parker, and Chris," he paused, running his fingers through her hair, "you're the most important people in my life. And I don't ever want to lose any of you."

"You won't," Brennan promised, running her hand soothingly up and down his back.

"I don't think I'll lose Chris or Parker any time soon," he let go of her and took hold of her shoulders, looking her in the eyes, "it's you I'm worried about."

"Me?" Brennan asked, taken by surprise when he spoke the words, "You're not going to lose me, Booth. Why would you fear that?"

"Because we fight all the time, especially since you had Chris, and you wanted a divorce a few weeks ago," he told her honestly, his voice low as he cupped her face between his hands.

Brennan looked completely shocked, her eyes widened in surprise.

"I never wanted a divorce," she told him seriously, tripping over her words, simply because she couldn't believe that he ever even thought that, "w-why would you possibly think that I wanted a divorce?"

"Because you were talking about it," he looked back at her with the same amount of confusion in his expression, "you asked me if I wanted a divorce the night that we were arguing about being partners again...you asked me if I wanted to get a divorce, and I-"

"_I_ asked _you_," she pointed out.

"It's the same thing, Bones."

"No it's not. How is me asking you if you want a divorce the same thing as me wanting one?"

"Because it was obviously on your mind. The word 'divorce' shouldn't have even crossed your mind. It shouldn't have even been an afterthought."

"So you're mad at me because of what I was thinking about?" Brennan asked, "How is that in any way fair? I can't control what crosses my mind and what doesn't."

"I'm not mad at you," he was growing frustrated, not with her, but because this was about to turn into yet another fight, "listen to me, Bones. The last thing want to do right now is fight with you, okay?" He waited for her to nod in confirmation before he continued, "Just promise me that I'm not going to lose you. That's all I need to hear right now."

"You're not going to lose me," she promised, wrapping her arms back around him and pulling him close once again, "ever."

Even though, in her rational mind, she knew that she couldn't promise him that he would _never_ lose her, she didn't mind saying it to make him feel better. She didn't care if she was being irrational at the moment, as long as she eased his fears for the time being.

Booth was surprised when she added in the 'ever', knowing that whenever he promised her forever, she would say that he couldn't promise that because he may die before her, and a bunch of other nonsense that he tried not to listen to. But instead of bringing it up, he simply hugged her a little tighter, kissing her temple softly a few times as they held each other.

"I love you, Bones," he whispered, brushing his lips gently across her temple again after he spoke, "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Booth," she brushed her fingers through his hair comfortingly, "even the parts of yourself that you don't love."

"Nobody should love those parts," he murmured, "nobody should love the killer in me. Not even you, or Parker, or Christian."

"I can't help it," she peered up at him without breaking their contact, "maybe I love that part a little less, but I do still love it. It's a part of you, Booth. Being a sniper played a roll in making you who you are right now."

Booth wanted to say something, but couldn't think of anything relevant. Temperance Brennan had rendered him speechless once again. This woman was full of surprises.

"You want to make love now?" She asked, fixing the collar of his shirt after she released him from their hug, "Pick up where we left off?"

"No, I'm sorry, baby. I don't," he told her, honestly, smoothing his hands down her arms, "not after..."

"Okay," she nodded understandingly, knowing that after going to a crime scene and after closing a long and draining case were some of the only times that he was not in the mood, "I understand. You look exhausted, so go to sleep and I'll work on my novel."

"Alright," Booth kissed her gently, before going to find something to sleep in, "goodnight, Bones."

"Goodnight, Booth," she responded, going out into the living room to get her laptop.

When she brought her computer over to the kitchen table and sat down, she realized that she didn't want to leave Booth laying restless and alone in their bedroom, since she knew for a fact that when he had these moments, where he thought about his past and the cases they were working on, he had trouble getting to sleep. So, instead of working on her novel, she left her computer on the table and made her way back to the bedroom, opening and closing the door quietly behind her before she slipped into her side of the bed, wrapping her arms around her husband from behind.

"Hey," he greeted her in a sleepy voice when he felt her presence, unable to turn around to look at her in their current position, "I thought you were working on your novel?"

Brennan shrugged, even though he couldn't see her, and rubbed his back in slow, soothing circles.

"I changed my mind," she whispered, not bringing up the fact that she only changed her mind because she wanted to help him sleep, "go to sleep, Booth," she reached over to turn off the alarm clock, "tomorrow I'll wake you up and we'll go into work together."

The words sounded like music to his ears as he closed his eyes, the feeling of her hand rubbing his back comfortingly helping to relax him as he drifted off into a much needed sleep, with his wife, and partner, following close behind.


	34. See How Good I Am?

**A/N: I really tried to get this chapter out to you guys last night, but I was way too tired. xD So I finished up this morning, and now here you are. Hope you enjoy. =]**

Chapter Thirty-Four:

"See How Good I Am?"

Booth was having a bad day. It was just one of those days where he felt like everything that could go wrong was, and he was looking forward to just going home to his wife and his baby and not having to worry about dealing with other people for the rest of the night.

"Bones, I didn't stop for dinner on the way home, so I'll make something if you want," he called to her, as he opened the door, stopping when he saw a young blonde girl sitting on the floor with his son, who was laying on his stomach and kicking his feet happily, "hello."

"Oh, hi," the girl pushed her hair back, looking up at him with a smile, "I'm Portia Kennedy. If all goes well, I'm going to be Christian's nanny."

Booth had to admit, he was a little surprised. He knew it was a stereotype, but he always imagined nannies looking like Mary Poppins, older women dressed in long dresses with their hair tied back into tight buns. Well, Parker's nanny didn't look like Mary Poppins, but he always considered her more of Rebecca's friend than a nanny. But this girl, Portia, couldn't have been much older than twenty five, and she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with her hair down and falling in long, straight locks over her shoulders.

"I'm Seeley Booth, Christian's father," he bent down a little to shake her hand, "I assume you've met my wife."

"Yes, Doctor Brennan and I spent the day with Christian," she told him, hearing the baby whine when she lifted him off of his stomach, "she just went over to the store really quick to get more diapers and baby powder."

"She left you here alone with the baby?" He asked, covering up his concern with a small laugh, since he didn't want to offend her by making her think that he didn't trust her.

"Well she only left about five minutes before you came," Portia shrugged, standing up with Christian in her arms and holding him out to Booth, "here. I'm sure you want to hold him."

"Thanks," Booth thanked her kindly when she handed the baby over to him.

It was only after a few minutes of silence that Portia spoke again.

"He's really sweet," she said, referring to Christian, "and he looks just like you."

"Yeah, my wife says he will for the first year," Booth told her.

"Just for the first year?"

"Yeah, something anthropological about how men won't abandon their children if they look like them," he shrugged, unable to explain it in the same way Brennan had to him, "I don't know. She's the scientist. I'm more of a people person."

"What do you do for a living?" She asked.

"I'm an FBI agent," he told her.

"Really?" Portia asked, waiting for him to nod in confirmation before she continued, "that's totally cool. Are you a field agent or one of those higher-ups?"

"Field agent. I investigate homicides," he informed her, even though he had to wonder why she was asking him questions and not vice versa, "my wife...you know, Doctor Brennan, identifies bodies and comes out into the field with me."

"You two work together? How cute," Portia laughed lightly, "I have a boyfriend...Jeff. And if Jeff and I worked together, we would probably want to strangle each other by day three."

"Oh trust me, there are times when we want to strangle each other, but we get passed it. We've been working together for years, so we're pretty used to it at this point."

When Portia was about to speak again, Brennan opened the door to the apartment, bags in hand, smiling when she saw that her husband and the new nanny were becoming friendly.

"Hi," she greeted the three of them, turning her attention to Booth, "I thought you would be working late on the case tonight."

"Nope, not tonight," he told her, supporting the back of Christian's head when he leaned backwards, "there was really nothing to work on. Your squint squad slacks when you're not around, so they weren't giving me too much information."

"These things take time, Booth. You're just very impatient," she told him, turning to Portia when she remembered that she was still there, "you can leave if you would like, but if you want to stay for dinner, you're more than welcome."

"Thank you, Doctor Brennan, but my boyfriend and I are going to grab dinner when I get home," Portia politely declined her offer.

"Okay," Brennan smiled warmly, "so, will you be able to start tomorrow?"

"I can start as soon as you want me to."

"Alright, then I'll see you in the morning," Brennan told her, "I'll give you his schedule tomorrow when you arrive. Just remember, if you take him out, make sure he's wearing his coat and his hat, because young babies are very susceptible to-"

"Bones, she knows what to do," Booth assured his wife, smiling brightly down at Christian when he looked up at the sound of his voice, "right, Chris? Tell mama that Portia knows to bundle you up if she takes you outside. Go ahead."

"He can't speak yet, Booth," Brennan reminded him, her voice dry.

"It's alright, Mr. Booth, Doctor Brennan is just taking precautions," Portia laughed lightly, "but you don't have to worry, Doctor Brennan. I've worked with kids younger than Chris before, so I know what I'm doing."

"I trust you," Brennan assured her, with a half smile, "we'll see you tomorrow, Portia."

"Bye, and thank you both so much for giving me this job. I've been really short on money lately. I guess not too many people have been needing nannies lately," she shrugged, opening the front door, "well, I'll see the three of you tomorrow."

After the three of them said their goodbyes, Portia left, closing the door behind her when she did. Brennan turned to look at her partner, who was speaking nonsense to their son, laughing when he would see his eyes light up in recognition. It was amazing to see the way he was growing mentally. Now, he reacted to the voices around him, turning his head when someone would speak, and he was now able to recognize his parents, his eyes seeming to get a twinkle in them when he saw either of them. Booth laughed when the baby grasped at his shirt, the only sound distracting him from the two month old being the sound of his wife's voice.

"Do you want to take him for a walk with me?" She asked.

"Yeah, of course I do," Booth handed her the baby when he spoke, "just give me a minute to get out of this suit, and then we'll go."

* * *

><p>Brennan felt at peace walking down the sidewalks of D.C., pushing her baby in the stroller with her husband standing so close next to her that she could feel his shoulder brush against hers every now and then. She knew they must have looked like the ideal family, and she could have sworn that she felt people glancing in their direction, but Booth would have told her that it was just paranoia.<p>

"You want me to push him for a block?" Booth asked, since Brennan had been pushing the stroller the entire time they had been walking.

"No, I'm capable of pushing a stroller," she told him, the words sounding sharper than she'd intended them to. Feeling as if she'd offended him with her tone when it fell silent between them, she spoke again, changing the subject, "I was on my laptop today and Portia was playing with Chris, so I was looking at real estate online."

Booth turned his head to look at her when she mentioned real estate.

"Oh?"

"Well I know we spoke about buying a house a while ago, before we were even married, since your..._our_ apartment is not really big enough for the three of us, plus Parker when he comes to visit, so I was browsing," she looked over at him as she spoke, "I found a really nice place, and it wasn't overly expensive either, even though price isn't really an issue, considering the money I make from my novels," she paused, realizing that her last comment could have made him feel uncomfortable, since he hated addressing how she made more money than him, "anyway, it has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and it is very spacious. It has a very big backyard, and an in ground pool for Parker."

"That sounds great, Bones, but we don't really need four bedrooms," Booth laughed lightly, "we need one for us, one for Christian, and a guest room. Wouldn't four be a bit much?"

"It's one extra bedroom, Booth," she laughed as well, "we could just have two guest bedrooms for now. I don't think we should not buy a house that is nearly perfect for us just because it has one too many bedrooms."

Booth wanted to ask her when she was planning on having more than one guest, until he caught her use of the words 'for now'. The two words caused something to click in his mind, and he looked at her with a cocky grin on his face.

"You want more kids," he concluded.

"What?" Brennan was caught off guard by his comment, seeming slightly flustered.

"You want to have more kids," he repeated, "now that we have Christian, you want a house full of little baby Brennan-Booths, don't you?"

"I do not," she said defensively, "having more children shouldn't even be part of the discussion right now. Chris is not even two months old yet. I do not want anymore kids right now."

"Right now," he pointed out the words that changed the entire meaning of her sentence, "which means that you _do_ want more kids at some point."

"Some point in the very distant future...maybe," she told him, "but I am perfectly satisfied just having one for now. Don't you think if I wanted to have more children right now that we'd at least be sexually active? We haven't had sex in two months," she saw him turn his gaze to the sky when she reminded him of the fact, "I think that would play a big part in having another baby. Women are extremely fertile after they give birth, so if I wanted to become inseminated-"

"Alright, Bones, I get it," Booth was practically pleading with her to put an end to this torture, "you are officially not allowed to talk about sex anymore until we start doing it again. So unless you are planning on tonight being 'The Night', then no more talking about _that_."

"Okay," she held up one hand in a surrender, the other still holding onto Christian's stroller, "I wasn't trying to arouse you, I was just-"

"You weren't arousing me," he cut her off, "but you were about to start going into detail, and then you would have been."

"I wasn't going to go into detail," she murmured.

"Well I'm stopping you before you even think about it. See how good I am?"

Booth laughed when Brennan looked up at him with a curious, yet amused expression.

"Booth?" She asked, changing topics once again, since he was starting to make her slightly uncomfortable by grilling her about maybe wanting more children in the distant future.

"Bones?"

Brennan leaned her shoulder against his as they walked.

"I...would like to go to the FBI charity event with you," she looked over at him to see that he was looking at her with a bright smile.

"No you wouldn't," he laughed lightly, "you hate events."

"You're right," she told him, "I guess I wouldn't _like_ to go to the charity even with you...but I will, because I can see how important it is to you."

"You're sweet," he leaned over to peck her cheek the best he could while they were walking, "who changed your mind? Because I know that Temperance Brennan didn't just decide she wanted to go to a charity event on her own."

"No one changed my mind," she laughed lightly, "I mean, it helped that Angela offered to take Christian for the night, and I spoke to Sweets about it briefly, bu-"

"So _Sweets_ changed your mind?" He asked, slightly amused by the fact.

"No!" Brennan said defensively, "Sweets _didn't_ change my mind, I just wanted to get him to stop talking, so I told him I would go. When I told him that I wasn't going with you, he started talking about how that wouldn't be healthy for our relationship, and how it was probably upsetting you more than I thought it was."

"It wasn't upsetting me," Booth half lied, since it was upsetting him a little, but not enough for it to really effect their relationship, "if you weren't coming I would have been bored, and I'd probably have a hundred people asking where you were, but I would have survived."

"Well now it isn't about survival anymore, because you'll have me," she smiled over at him confidently.

"You're right, Bones," he told her honestly, adding in a small laugh at the end, "you always know how to spice things up."


	35. Stop Teasing

**A/N: I was going to say 'two chapters in one day', but technically, since it's past twelve, that would be a lie. xD Anyway, I stayed up late working on this one, since I wanted to finish it, so here you all are. =]**

**I feel like you guys have been hiding from me lately. Don't hesitate to drop a review *wink wink* xD. I'm usually not one to ask, but...well, this is me asking. Seriously, I think you guys are great, and I appreciate all the feedback you already give, but don't be strangers, alright? =]**

**Songs used are 'I Knew I Loved You' by Savage Garden and 'I Wanna Know What Love Is' by Foreigner**

Chapter Thirty-Five:

"Stop Teasing"

"Come on, Bones. Chop, chop," Booth called to her from the living room, where he was sitting on the couch with Christian in his lap, "the place isn't too far away but we still have to drop Chris off with Angela and Hodgins. And, I'll be honest with you, I'm a little nervous that he's going to throw up on my good suit. He's making that face like he wants to."

"He doesn't know what he wants," Brennan reminded him, "if he throws up then it's because he has to. Trust me, he's not trying to sabotage your night," she stepped out of the bedroom, her heels clicking on the floor as she fastened her left earing, "do you have all of his things together?"

"Yeah, I put it all in the back of the car already," he stood up with his son, unable to take his eyes off of his wife, "wow, Bones. You look...wow."

"Thank you, I think," she assumed it was supposed to be a compliment, even though 'wow' wasn't an adjective, as she glanced down at the dark purple fabric of her dress, "you were the one complaining that we were going to be late, and now you're just standing there looking at me as if I have three heads. Is my dress on backwards or something?"

"No, no, your dress is fine," he assured her, stepping towards the door.

_So much better than fine_, he made sure the words didn't come out of his mouth, as he tried to eliminate every dirty thought that was racing through his mind at the moment.

"Okay, then we should probably...go," her voice trailed off when she saw that his eyes were back on her, "Booth, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he assured her.

"You are very fond of the word 'fine' tonight," she observed, as the opened the front door, closing and locking it before they went out to the car.

"Maybe that's because _you're_ fine," he tried, with a smile, nudging her with the elbow of the arm that wasn't supporting Christian.

"Wow," Brennan laughed lightly, "you are completely shameless. What do you want?"

"You," he saw her pupils dilate slightly, but her look of surprise turned into a smile when he smiled again, wrapping an arm around her waist, "just you, baby."

* * *

><p>Brennan was trying not to blush as she ate her salad, able to feel her husband's fingers running gingerly over her skin, occasionally brushing against the side of her neck before he traced the scar on her exposed shoulder. She wasn't really sure why he was being so affectionate that night, but it was as if ever since she came out of their bedroom dressed to go to the charity event, he couldn't keep his hands off of her.<p>

"Are you hungry?" Brennan asked quietly, glancing over at her husband who had his head resting in the hand that wasn't touching her.

"Nope," he assured her, kissing her bare shoulder and resting his chin there before he moved his hand to the one that had the strap, "I like this one shoulder thing."

"I wasn't sure about it when I first picked it out," she told him, shivering when she felt his breath on the skin of her shoulder before he kissed it again, "I'm usually not particularly fond of dresses that only have one sleeve, but after I tried it on I liked it."

"I'm glad you liked it, because I do," he smoothed his hand over the soft sleeve of the dress before kissing the crook of her neck gently.

Brennan was slightly confused as to what he was trying to do when she felt his hand slide from her sleeve to her back, his palm pressed flat to the fabric as he skimmed his hand slowly downwards.

"What are you doing?" She laughed lightly, glancing behind her to try and catch a glimpse of what he was up to.

"Trying to figure out how this comes off."

"Booth!" His admission caused her to gasp and blush simultaneously, jerking away from his hand when it rounded her side to search for the zipper or button there, and turning her head to whisper to him, making sure no one around them could hear, "We're not having sex tonight, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Oh, come on," he pulled away from where his chin was resting against her shoulder to look at her seriously, "I have a feeling you're dragging this out on purpose. Did I do something? Are you trying to punish me?"

"No, of course not," Brennan assured him, "this isn't about you."

"Then what is it about?" Booth decided it was finally time to ask, since she had been reluctant to get into bed with him ever since she had the baby, "Because I'm having a really hard time believing that it has nothing to do with me."

Brennan pushed the little bit of salad that was left on her plate around with a fork before she set it down on the table, deciding that she didn't want the rest.

"Forget about it, Booth. It isn't a big deal," she said, glancing over at the couples who were twirling one another on the dance floor, "can we just go dance?"

"Not until you tell me why you don't want to sleep with me."

"It's just sex, Booth! What does it matter?" She saw the heads of a couple that was sitting a table away from them turn, causing her to realize that she had raised her voice a little, "If you don't mind, I would like to dance now. Preferably with you."

With a small huff, Booth stood up, offering his hand to her so she could take it and stand with him. He was a little annoyed that she refused to just tell him why she was so reluctant to make love, even though the doctor assured her it was safe two weeks prior, but she made it clear that she didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't press the issue. As much as it was killing him, he would have to wait until she was ready. He promised her he wouldn't push, and that was exactly what he was doing now.

When they made it to the area in the middle of the room, which had become the dance floor, he pulled her in close, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder as they slow danced. Brennan wanted to say something, knowing that she was making him feel insecure by her lack of willingness to make love, but couldn't find the correct way to word it, so she just wrapped her arms around him as they swayed together.

"I don't understand this song," she told him.

"What's not to understand?" Booth had to laugh.

"It says 'I knew I loved you before I met you', but I feel as if that is impossible. You can't love someone you've never met. It took me four years to realize that I love _you_. I most certainly did not love you _before_ I met you."

"It's just a song, Bones."

Even though Brennan wasn't really a big fan of the lyrics to the song, since, as she said, they didn't make sense, the melody was still pretty, and it didn't stop her from wanting to dance close to her husband. So instead of bringing it up again, she simply stayed quiet, allowing him to lead her as they danced, and she listened to the music coming from the DJ booth.

_There is no rhyme or reason,  
><em>_only the sense of completion.  
><em>_And in your eyes,  
><em>_I see the missing pieces.  
><em>_I'm searching for,  
><em>_I think I've found my way home._

_I know that it might sound more than a little,  
><em>_crazy, but I believe._

_I knew I loved you before I met you.  
><em>_I think I dreamed you into life.  
><em>_I knew I loved you before I met you.  
><em>_I have been waiting all my life._

"I'm surprised Ricky hasn't come bounding over like a puppy dog yet," Booth's voice was mellow in her ear, sounding much less frantic than it had last time he spoke, the sudden sound causing her to jump a bit.

"He couldn't make it. He had a lot of work to do," Brennan told her husband, "and he isn't an animal, Booth."

"Couldn't make it? To a charity event?" He asked quietly into her ear, "Sounds like he just doesn't care. You know, that check we wrote out back home that we gave to the guy at the door? That's all going to cancer research."

"I know, that is why we offered a significant amount. To help children like Amy Cullen," Brennan looked up at him, desperation in her eyes, "are you angry with me?"

"No," he told her honestly, "just a little confused."

"Because I don't want to have sex later?"

"Because you don't want to have sex _ever_."

Brennan sighed and pressed her forehead to his shoulder briefly before she looked up at him again.

"You watched me give birth," she reminded him.

"I know," he was confused as to where she was taking this.

"Aren't you repulsed?"

"No. Should I be?"

"I don't know. I haven't felt quite as attractive since I had Christian. I feel as if you probably haven't found me as attractive either."

"Do you think I would be wasting my time trying to coax you into bed if I didn't find you attractive?" He asked, with a small laugh, "I don't see why you wouldn't feel attractive. You've dropped the baby weight, so you look exactly the same as you did before you got pregnant. And even if you didn't, I love _you_, not your body."

"I don't look exactly the same. I've grown a cup size."

"Whatever," he laughed, "my point is, there's no reason you should feel unattractive."

"I know it's irrational, Booth, but I've just felt different ever since I've become a mother," she wanted to explain, but wasn't entirely sure why she felt this way.

"But that's not all you are," he cupped her cheek gently in his palm, turning her head up so he could look her in the eyes, "sure, you're Christian's mother, but you're _my_ wife," he pecked her lips softly, "_my_ best friend," he kissed the side of her neck, "_my_ lover."

"Booth, I-"

"Booth! Brennan!" A very frantic, and highly intoxicated, Tim Sullivan found his way over to the two of them.

"Looks like someone found the open bar," Booth had to laugh, as Sully muttered something about him being a jack ass under his breath, "how are you feeling, pal? Need to sit down? Or will you be alright?"

"I'm fine," he assured them, "but, hey, Booth. Guess who I'm here with?"

"I'm stumped."

"Payton Perotta," he whispered, as if it was some sort of secret, "look at her over there," he gestured in the general direction of where Perotta was getting herself a glass of water, "she's pretty, right? With her long, curly, blonde hair, and her pink lips, and those blue eyes..."

"Sully, I feel like I should get you some bread," Brennan told him, "you are very intoxicated, and bread will soak up the alcohol in your stomach."

"I'm not drunk," he assured her, "I'm gonna go get Perotta so we can dance again, but I saw you guys and wanted to ask how things are going with the rugrat."

"He's great," Booth told him, his fingers lacing between his wife's, as if it was a reflex, "he's a handful, but we love him."

"Of course he's a handful. He's _your_ kid," Sully offered him a playful punch in the shoulder, "I'm just messing with you, Booth. Well...only a little."

"Yeah, that's great," Booth had to laugh at his drunken behavior, "do us both a favor and go rejoin Perotta."

Sully gave him a playful salute as he made his way back across the room to get his date. Once he was gone, Booth pulled Brennan back in to dance again, seeing how she looked up at him, her eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Since when are you and Sully friends?" She asked.

"We're not friends, but we've put our differences aside," he told her, giving her a playful twirl before pulling her back in.

"You went out to drinks with him after work. I think that would qualify as something that friends would do."

"Well I'm friends with Perotta, and she was there too," Booth explained, changing the topic of conversation when a new song started to play, "hey, Bones, you know who this is?"

"Foreigner," she smiled when he did, "one of my favorite Foreigner songs, actually"

"What about Hot Blooded?" Booth asked playfully.

"Hot Blooded wasn't one of my favorites until we sang it in my apartment," she told him, a semi-seductive smile on her face, "and I started to like it even more after we made out to it in your bathroom."

"Stop teasing," he looked down at her, cutting her off when she opened her mouth to speak again, "no. Hush. No more talking. We're just going to dance now, alright?"

"Fine," she murmured, resting her cheek back against his shoulder, closing her eyes as they slow danced to one of their favorite bands.

_In my life there's been heartache and pain,  
><em>_I don't know if I can face it again.  
><em>_Can't stop now, I've traveled so far  
><em>_to change this lonely life. _

_I wanna know what love is.  
><em>_I want you to show me.  
><em>_I wanna feel what love is.  
><em>_I know you can show me._

Brennan smoothed her hand down her husband's back, able to feel him tense up slightly underneath her touch before he relaxed, pressing a kiss to her temple as they danced.

_I'm gonna take a little time  
><em>_A little time to look around me.  
><em>_I've got nowhere left to hide.  
><em>_It looks like love has finally found me._

_In my life there's been heartache and pain,  
><em>_I don't know if I can face it again.  
><em>_Can't stop now, I've traveled so far  
><em>_to change this lonely life. _

_I wanna know what love is.  
><em>_I want you to show me.  
><em>_I wanna feel what love is.  
><em>_I know you can show me._

Brennan turned her head so she could kiss the shell of his ear softly, smiling when she was able to feel him shiver from the sensation of her breath against his ear.

"Booth?" Her velvety voice was lowered to a whisper.

"Yeah?"

She kissed his ear softly once again, breathing the words silkily into his ear.

"I love you."

Booth wasn't entirely sure why he got goose bumps, but he did. A shiver ran up his spine, either from her sultry voice whispering that she loved him, or the fact that she was breathing in his ear. So instead of responding with words, he simply cupped her cheek, his lips seeking out hers and meeting them in a heated kiss.

When their lips parted against one another's, and their tongues tangled, the music simply became background noise to their kiss, as they were more focused on that than the actual dancing at this point.

_I wanna know what love is.  
><em>_I want you to show me.  
><em>_I wanna feel, I want to feel what love is.  
><em>_And I know, I know you can show me._

As the last few lines repeated, their kiss grew deeper, her fingers sliding into the back of his hair while his hands smoothed over her shoulders. There were a few times when Brennan had to break this kiss to breathe, only to feel his lips find hers again without any trouble, capturing them once again. They were never the type of couple who liked to display their affection, but, at that moment, all they wanted was their lips on the other's.

"Maybe we should..." Brennan breathed, leaving it open for him to finish.

"Stop?" He tried.

Brennan shook her head at his suggestion, her fingers tracing over his tie.

"Take this somewhere more private," she suggested, glancing up at him, able to see his eyes darken when she spoke the words.

"You mean to..."

Brennan nodded in confirmation, leaning in to whisper in his ear again.

"The dress..." she started, "there's no zipper on it. You just pull it right over my head...like a t-shirt."

She kissed his neck softly, smiling against his skin when she heard a small groan in the back of his throat. Finding the strength to pull away from her, he took her hand tightly in his, smiling the same seductive smile that she was giving him before he spoke.

"Let me take you home."


	36. My Booth Calls Me Bones

**A/N: It was raining here today, so I had extra time to write, which is why this chapter is out now. =] Even though I was bored having to stay inside today, at least we got a chapter out of it, right? xD**

**This chapter's got a little bit for everyone. Steaminess in the beginning, sweetness in the end. So hopefully you all are satisfied. **

Chapter Thirty-Six:

"My Booth Calls Me Bones"

"Wait, Booth," Brennan had to laugh, as her husband practically dragged her to the car, "wait. I left my coat in there."

"It's a coat, I'll buy you a new one if it's that important to you," he tugged impatiently at her hand, trying to get her to turn back in the direction of the SUV.

"They don't make that style anymore and it was very expensive," she pulled her hand out of his grip, "we've gone two months. I'm certain another five minutes won't kill you."

Booth groaned and reluctantly followed her back into the building where the event was being held. Brennan laughed cutely when she explained why they needed to go back in, causing the man at the door to laugh as well as she reached behind her to take her husband's hand, leading them over to the coat closet. Booth watched as her hands skimmed through the many coats that were hanging up in the closet, mumbling something to herself as she did.

She wanted to thank him for taking her back inside, even though she knew that it was the last thing he wanted to do, but she didn't have a chance to before the door to the closet opened, and they caught a brief glimpse of two familiar people in a lip lock before they realized they were not alone, and pulled apart quickly.

"H-Hey guys," Sully nearly tripped over his words, "I thought you left a while ago?"

"We were going to leave, but then I realized I left my coat behind so we came back. We're about to go though. Booth is getting very impatient waiting for sex."

"Bones!" Booth groaned, looking to the ceiling, "Really? You had to give them a whole synopsis? You couldn't have left that last part out?"

"Well I'm taking him home," Perotta gestured towards Sully, not giving Brennan a chance to speak again before she did, "I mean...not home as in my house...home as in where he lives," she seemed slightly flustered as she spoke, "but I'm not staying with him, I'm just dropping him off."

"Are you sure you aren't going to-"

"Yeah, good, he shouldn't be driving anyway," Booth cut his wife off before she could blurt out something completely inappropriate, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow," Perotta waved awkwardly as Brennan found her coat and she and Booth made their way quickly out of the closet, wanting to avoid any more awkward conversation with his co-workers.

As they walked back to the car, with Booth holding his wife's hand and pulling her gently along, Brennan felt the need to speak about what just happened.

"Why would Agent Perotta lie like that? It was obvious that she and Sully were going home to have sex."

"Maybe because they don't want their business being our business," he told her, unlocking the car with the remote control when they approached it, "you could take a lesson from them, Miss 'Booth Is Getting Impatient Waiting For Sex'."

"It must have been the wine, I'm sorry. Usually I'm more discreet...hey," she grabbed his arm gently, pulling him so he turned to face her once they reached the car, and he went to go open the driver's side door, "don't be mad."

"About the slip up? I'm not mad," he smiled kindly, pulling her close to kiss her forehead, "you know I don't get mad about stuff like that. We've been together for over a year."

"Not just about the slip up," she let go of his hand so she could trace her fingers over his chest, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"Then what?" He laughed lightly, his smile fading when he saw how serious she looked, "Bones," he chuckled, trying to cheer her up, "what?"

"Nothing," she took her hand away from his chest, going to move it back to her side until he grabbed it in his, "I just don't want you to be mad about the sex...or lack there of. I made you wait a long time, and to make matters worse, I made you feel like I was waiting because _you_ were doing something wrong."

"Nah," he shrugged it off, "that was just my paranoia kicking in."

"You have no paranoia," she laughed lightly, offering him a playful punch in the shoulder, "not when it comes to your masculinity anyway."

"Well I _am_ pretty hot," he playfully agreed.

Brennan gave his arm a good shove before she rounded the SUV to get in on her side.

"Just get in the car, Booth," she laughed, getting in and closing the door behind her.

* * *

><p>To Booth, it felt as if she was unlocking the door painfully slow that night, putting the key in the lock and turning it at a leisurely pace. But, then again, she was finding it hard to concentrate on the task at hand when she could feel her partner's hands smooth down her sides.<p>

"Hurry up," he murmured in her ear, nibbling gently on the lobe, "I want to get you out of that dress and into bed."

Brennan's hand trembled slightly as she jerked the key around in the lock for a few seconds, before she realized that she was using the key to the lab and not the apartment.

"Dammit," she mumbled, fumbling with her keys in an attempt to find the right one.

"Bones?" She trembled again when his breath touched her ear, "What's the holdup?"

"I can't find the key," she whispered meekly, "mainly because you're distracting me."

"You want me to stop?" He asked, nuzzling the sensitive area behind her ear gently.

"No," she whispered shamelessly as she found the key to their apartment and jammed it, without care, into the door.

Hearing the lock click sounded like the sweetest sound in the world to both of them as Brennan pushed the front door open, stumbling over the threshold when Booth nudged her gently through the doorway.

"Jeez, Bones, I'm sorry," he apologized when she caught herself on the wall, reaching behind him to close the door after he stepped inside.

Brennan shook her head at his apology, cupping his face between her hands and pulling him down to meet her in a searing kiss. When he placed his hands on her shoulders to urge her towards the bedroom, she placed her hands on his, shoving him backwards until his back met the wall. He wanted to laugh at her eagerness, but the thought slipped away from him when she pulled him back to her, only to push the jacket from his shoulders, before pressing him back against the wall.

"Baby," he mumbled, when she moved her lips from his to kiss the line of his jaw softly, "baby, don't you think we should..." he paused to inhale when she gave a gentle nip, "don't you think we should slow down a little?"

"You want to slow down?" She asked, even though it seemed as if, regardless of his answer, she was not planning on it, her fingers working on the buttons of his shirt.

"No, not slow down," he corrected himself, glancing down at her when her lips touched his chest, following the skin as it was revealed by the buttons that were coming open, "but shouldn't we, you know, go to our bedroom?" He tilted his head up to look at the ceiling when she dropped to her knees in front of him, kissing just under his bellybutton before she started on his belt buckle, "I just...I feel like it would be more comfortable to do this in bed as opposed to-"

He was silenced when she stood back up and pressed her lips back to his, pulling away when they parted for her.

"I don't want to wait that long," she whispered, starting to lower the zipper on his pants before he lifted her up, allowing her to push her dress up a bit in order to wrap her legs around his waist, "don't you dare take me to bed, Booth."

She could feel his fingers at the back of her head, gently pulling out the pins that held her hair in the classy up-do she was wearing. The pins made soft clinking noises when they hit the hardwood floor, and she could feel her hair fall over her shoulders.

"I'm not taking you to bed," he told her, whirling them around so it was her back against the wall instead of his, "trust me, I'm not taking you to bed."

* * *

><p>Brennan was finally starting to catch her breath as she sat on the cold floor, her back against the wall, and her partner's back against her chest. She brushed the fabric of his open shirt aside so she could press her palm to his chest, able to feel his rapid heartbeat, as her other hand moved to zip his pants back up for him.<p>

"Marry me?" he tilted his head back to look at her, resting it against her shoulder with a bright smile on his face.

"I'm afraid that's already been done," Brennan laughed lightly, brushing her fingers through his hair, which was now damp with sweat, "but if you have another request, I'd be happy to oblige."

Booth laughed lightly, kissing the side of her neck.

"I'm going to take you to bed...as soon as I can move," he promised, with a small laugh, "and this time, we'll actually manage to get our clothes off."

"You rushed me into opening the door so you could get me out of my dress and into bed, but you have still yet to do either," Brennan reminded him, her fingers tracing gently over the spot on his rib cage where she knew he was ticklish, laughing when he jerked at her touch, "but when you do, it'll be adequate."

"Just adequate?" He asked, resting the back of his head against her shoulder as he looked at her with chocolate brown eyes, "I feel like now I'm inclined to prove you wrong."

"Maybe adequate was the wrong word," she corrected herself, smoothing her hands down his rib cage, "I'm going to be honest, Booth, during our two months of celibacy, I seemed to forget how satisfying you are."

"I'm glad to have jogged your memory," he told her, closing his eyes as he simply embraced the feeling of her left hand tracing back over his chest, only to move and stroke his hair again, the way she knew relaxed him.

Brennan kissed his temple softly, attempting to shift, even though she didn't get far with the weight of her husband leaning against her.

"Don't close your eyes, Booth," she whispered, sliding the white button down shirt he was still wearing down one shoulder to kiss it softly, "you'll fall asleep. And I don't think we should fall asleep on the floor."

"I'm not falling asleep," he assured her, opening his eyes again and fixing his shirt so it was back over both shoulders, "trust me, baby. I'm nowhere near done with you."

Brennan laughed breathlessly, and, with a groan due to the slight pain in his back, Booth stood from the floor, leaning down to wrap his arms around his partner's waist and pick her back up, allowing her legs to wrap back around his torso. Brennan sighed as he placed kisses over her bare shoulder while he carried her to bed, propping her head against his.

"Normally I would object to you carrying me," she told him, "but I find that I am very comfortable like this."

"Well don't get too comfortable," he chuckled, "we're not staying like this for long."

Just as he spoke, he opened and closed their bedroom door, went inside, and let her legs fall from around his waist so her feet hit the floor and she was standing in front of him. Her hair was tousled from their last go-round out by the door, her eyes were sleepy, yet still full of energy at the same time, and her lips were still slightly kiss swollen.

"Bones," he sighed, caressing her face gently, "you're perfect."

With a small blush that wasn't able to be seen in the room that was only lit by moonlight, Brennan held her arms over her head in a silent signal. Immediately knowing what she was asking for, Booth tugged the purple, one shouldered dress over her head, tossing it aside. Even though she felt slightly exposed when he looked her up and down, she allowed him to for a minute, before she slipped the open fabric of his dress shirt off of his shoulders and down his arms, letting it hit the floor next to her dress. When she undid his pants and pushed them down far enough so they would pool to the floor on their own, Booth stepped out of them, placing a hand on her shoulder and smoothing it slowly down her arm.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

"Why would I not be?" Her voice was just as soft, as she looked up at him, able to seek out his eyes in the dark room.

"Things out there got a little out of hand," he moved his hand to kiss a freckle on her shoulder, "it shouldn't have happened like that," he paused, seeing that she was looking up at him with nothing but love in her eyes, "did...did I hurt you or anything?"

Brennan shook her head, placing one hand on his cheek, the other running down his side, tracing a scar near his hip.

"You could never hurt me, Booth," she promised, "what happened outside was passionate, and frantic, and a release of everything we held back for the last two months, but it was not in any way painful."

"You promise?" He asked, not quite sure if she was just telling him that because she didn't want him to feel bad for causing her pain.

"Promise," she kissed his cheek softly, her thumb tracing right above where his boxers started, "I want you to make love to me until we fall asleep. And then I want to wake up early tomorrow, but late enough that the sun is peaking through the blinds, so we can make slow and lazy love in the dim morning light until we have to go get Christian."

Booth ran his hand gently up and down her back.

"I think I would like that," he told her, nudging her gently backwards until the backs of her knees touched the mattress. With a soft peck to her lips, he placed his hands on her waist, "you want to be on top?"

Brennan shook her head, pushing him gently away so she could lay down on her back, her hair sprawled out across the pillows as her husband took his place over her, running his thumb affectionately over her cheekbone a few times before he leaned down to kiss her. Brennan wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding tightly onto him until he slipped out from under her arms to kiss gently down the front of her throat, skipping over the material of her bra to press warm kisses down her torso.

"Booth," she murmured, her fingers twisting into his hair, "Booth, I love you," her voice was low as she whispered incoherent terms of affection to him, "Booth..." she drew in a sharp breath when he reached her bellybutton, "_Seeley_."

It was rare that she ever used his first name, but every time she did, it never failed to make his entire body tingle. Once she had his attention, she arched her back and took his hand, leading it to the clasp of her bra in a silent signal. When he moved back up so they were face to face, his lips hovering over hers and their noses nuzzling together, she whimpered slightly.

"I love you," she whispered, scraping her fingernails gently over his back, "I...I love you."

"I love you too," the murmured words were barely audible, and he could hear her whimper softly when he touched his lips to hers in a feather light caress, mumbling against them, "love you, Bones."

Brennan nodded in agreement, her palms smoothing up his back.

"Love you, Booth."

"Temperance..."

Brennan shook her head when he used her first name.

"Bones," she corrected him, pressing a palm to his stubbly cheek to draw his eyes back to hers, "my Booth calls me Bones."

Booth was the one to nod in agreement this time, capturing her lips in a soft kiss again. Brennan smoothed one hand over his forearm, reminding him of the hand that was still on the clasp of her bra, but had not opened it yet.

"Booth," she mumbled, grabbing his attention again.

He opened the clasp that was resting on her back with ease, knowing what she was asking, even when she didn't say anything. That was the way it was between them. They could read each other, they knew everything the other wanted without having to speak a word. And they reminded each other of that as they made slow, passionate love until they fell asleep in each other's arms.


	37. Just Give Him a Chance

**A/N: Hello. =] This chapter's kind of long, and there's kind of a lot going on, but that shouldn't stop you from leaving your feedback, right? xD Thank you to everyone who has, by the way, but I still feel like I'm losing some of you guys. Don't be worried about the angst yet. I already promised I would warn you when it was coming. xD**

**Oh, and by the way, even though I know you guys probably never would, please refrain from leaving any spoilers to Season Seven in any reviews or PMs. I'm spoiler free, and I know fanfic is dangerous territory when the spoilers come out, so if any of you read anything, I would appreciate it if you didn't share with me. Thanks. =]**

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

"Just Give Him a Chance"

Booth was comfortable, laying on his stomach, when woke up the next morning, and he could tell by the limited amount of light coming into their bedroom that it was still early. He turned his head, resting his cheek against the pillow, so he could look at his wife while she slept, her hair falling across her face, and her sheet covered chest rising and falling with her relaxed breathing. Sometimes, when he watched her sleep, he was wondering if she was having nightmares, but that morning, she looked so peaceful that he knew she couldn't have been.

When he reached over, skimming his fingers in a feather light touch over the outline of her spine, he could see her eyes flutter open, and she immediately reached up to brush her hair away from her eyes so she could look at him sleepily.

"Hey...sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," he whispered, keeping his voice soft so he didn't break the serene feel of the room, "you can go back to sleep."

Brennan smiled and shook her head the best she could in her current position.

"I'm not tired anymore," she told him, "although, if I did close my eyes again I would probably fall back asleep."

"So how about you just close your eyes and we'll see what happens?"

Brennan folded her arms under her head so her cheek could rest against them while she looked at him.

"I would rather stay awake with you," she half smiled at her own words, closing her eyes when he leaned over to kiss her forehead softly, "if that's okay with you," she added in playfully.

"You know that's okay with me," Booth laughed lightly, moving closer so he could drape his arm over her back, "as long as you're not cranky later."

"I'm not making any promises."

With a small laugh and a smile, Brennan leaned the small distance over to touch her lips lightly to his, able to feel his lips turn up into a smile under hers. After only a few seconds of the kiss, she pulled away, untucking one arm from under her head to run her fingers across his back the same way he was doing to her when she woke up.

"I miss seeing you like this," he told her, pulling her a little closer as his fingers skimmed over each of the ribs on her right side.

"Naked?" Brennan asked, with innocent eyes.

"Well I do miss waking up next to you all bare with just our sheets covering us," he nuzzled the crook of her neck softly with a small laugh, "but that's not what I meant. I meant I miss seeing you...you know, the way you are now. Sated. Sleepy. Tranquil."

"I'm not completely sated,"she filled him in, her index finger tracing slowly up his spine, stopping when she reached the back of his neck, "I believe you told me that we would make love again in the morning...and it's morning."

"Alright, baby, we will," Booth laughed lightly, "just relax for a few minutes. We both just woke up," he laughed again when she looked at him disappointedly, "it's amazing how you can go from being so adamant about _not_ having sex, to craving it the way you are now."

"I forgot how much I liked it," she smiled mischievously, before quickly turning herself over and straddling his waist, pushing her hair suggestively over one shoulder as she looked down at him, "especially when you do that thing where you-"

"Okay, I get it, I get it," he assured her quickly, before she could go any farther, "you enjoyed yourself last night. I'm glad."

"I think saying I 'enjoyed myself' is a bit of an understatement," she told him, shivering when his hands cupped her waist , "I feel idiotic for waiting two weeks after my doctor gave me permission. I should have taken advantage."

"Bones," Booth laughed, "I didn't know you were capable of feeling stupid."

"And I didn't know you kept a condom behind your bank card now," she smiled when his cheeks flushed a bit, "I guess there's still a lot we have to learn about each other."

"Yeah, well I learned my lesson from a few weeks ago when we wanted to make love but didn't have protection," he told her, "I was making sure that when you changed your mind, we would be prepared."

"You're thoughtful," she leaned down to kiss his chest softly, "I forgot about protection last night. You were the one that reminded me. A lot of men wouldn't have done that."

"I'm not just a guy, Bones, I'm your husband," he laughed weakly, "and trust me, I don't want another baby any more than you do right now," he paused, looking up into her eyes, which the sun was hitting in just the right way to make them look see through, "although, I do want to have more kids with you one day. Maybe one day soon."

"Not too soon," Brennan reminded him, keeping her tone light, even though she was panicking just a little in her head at the thought of having more children.

"No, not too soon," Booth confirmed, "maybe when Chris is about six months we can start trying to get pregnant again."

"Six months?" She sounded a little uneasy when she spoke.

"Yeah, I think that's a good age," Booth shrugged, "if you got pregnant again when Chris was six months, he'd already be a little over one by the time the new baby would be born. You know, I would really like to have a little girl next. A little baby Bones."

Brennan didn't want to tell him that she didn't want to get pregnant again so soon, in fear of upsetting him, so she simply forced a smile. There was no way that she would want to become pregnant again in just a mere four months, so she just hoped that he would forget about this by the time that time came around.

"You know it would not be a hundred percent chance that we would have a girl," she reminded him.

"I know," Booth assured her, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear, "I wouldn't mind having another boy either, but I have two boys already. I think it would be exciting to have a girl. A little Bones," he poked her flat stomach gently, "imagine having a little baby Bones right in there? And then she and Chris could play together, in our in ground pool while we-"

Booth was cut off when his phone rang, and they both sighed heavily, glancing over to where it was set on the night stand.

"Should I answer it?" Booth asked, his fingers tracing over her shoulder blade.

"As much as I would like to say no, it could be Angela," she said, despite the fact that, even though the baby conversation was making her uncomfortable, she still did not want him to answer, simply because if the call was from Angela about Christian, they wouldn't be able to make love, "you should answer."

In a way, Brennan felt as if she was saved by the ring, since it did a good job in distracting Booth from his fantasies of making another baby in four months and living in the house that she mentioned to him earlier in the week.

"Why does this always happen to us?" He murmured the rhetoric question before he leaned over his wife to grab his phone off of the night stand, answering it sharply, "yeah. Booth."

Brennan pressed affectionate kisses over his chest as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone, hoping that the gentle touches of her lips would help to soothe him a bit, since he seemed highly annoyed that somebody had interrupted them, especially when he realized that it was not Angela calling about the baby. It seemed to be working, since he looked down at her with a smile, and his tone softened a little bit when he would mumble an 'okay' to the person.

After a few more 'okay's and 'yeah's, he finally said that they would be there as soon as possible and hung the phone up, moving his hands to cup her face gently.

"We gotta go," he told her apologetically, "but I promise, I'll make it up to you. We'll make love later when Chris is asleep."

"Where are we going?" Brennan asked, rubbing her palm against the stubble on his jaw, hating when he just told her that they had to go without telling her what was going on.

"Adelina Castro's son turned up," he told her, tugging her down to him so he could kiss her softly, his warm lips soft against hers.

Brennan's smile immediately faded.

"Dead?" She asked.

Booth shook his head, kissing her again.

"No, baby," he smiled when she did, "he's perfectly alive. He's probably a little scared, but he's perfectly fine. He was with his grandparents for the week and they dropped him off outside, which was pretty irresponsible if you ask me...dropping a little kid off outside without making sure he got in okay," he realized he was getting off topic, shaking his head, "anyway, when he went inside he couldn't find his mother, so he called 911 and the cops told the FBI since they knew we were investigating her murder, and dropped him off at the Hoover."

"Does he know his mother's dead?" Brennan asked, feeling slightly comforted when his hands let go of her face to stroke the skin of her back that was not covered by the sheet.

"I don't know," he told her honestly, "that's why we gotta take a really quick shower, get dressed, and go down there."

* * *

><p>"Is he catatonic?" Brennan asked, looking at the little boy, who was looking down and coloring a picture in his coloring book, looking sad and disinterested in what he was doing as he scribbled with the crayons.<p>

"I don't think so," one of the other agents told her, "but he won't talk to anyone. We sent in a few different people. Agent Sullivan even gave him a coloring book...he accepted the book, but wouldn't speak to him."

"He's scared," Booth told them, since they were seeming to just be thinking of him as a child who wouldn't speak, as opposed to a little boy who just lost his mother, "and as if he wasn't scared enough going home and not finding his mother, then they cart him over to the FBI and stick him in an interrogation room."

"Well we told him he's not being interrogated, and that we just want to ask him a few questions but have nowhere else to do it, and he still won't talk," the other agent informed him.

"Do you see how young he is? He probably doesn't even know what 'interrogated' means," Booth huffed, feeling a little annoyed that he was the only one being understanding of this child's situation, "he just knows he's in a strange place, and all of these strange people are trying to talk to him about his dead mother. Losing his mother was bad enough. Now you can't just let him go home to his grandparents or his father?"

"He might have information, Booth. We can't just let him go."

"Even if he does have information, it'll never hold up in court. He's a kid, and little kids are notorious for making up stories. That's all the defense has to say, and then the jury completely disregards it."

"You know, Booth, I know you feel bad, but right now you have to put your feelings about his situation aside and do your-"

"Let Booth talk to him," Brennan cut the man off with her suggestion, seeing both of their heads turn towards her, "Booth is very good with children. Maybe he can get him to talk."

"I doubt it," the man said, "everyone who went in there was nice to him."

"Not in the same way," Brennan shook her head, "trust me, I have seen my partner interact with children, and most of the time he gets through to them. Just give him a chance. At this point, what other options do you have?"

The other man seemed to soften up his stance on the subject a bit when she pointed out that last bit of information. There really was nothing else he could do. If the kid still wouldn't talk to Booth, they would be in the same place they were now. But it was at least worth a try.

"Alright," the agent reluctantly agreed, handing Booth an earpiece "I guess you can try your luck."

Brennan offered her husband an encouraging touch on the shoulder before he left the little room they were all standing in to go into the interrogation room. When he opened and closed the door, the little boy didn't even look up at him. He just continued to color a picture in the coloring book that Sully gave to him, not acknowledging the other person in the room.

"Hey," Booth greeted him warmly, taking a seat across from him, "I'm Seeley Booth. I'm an FBI agent."

The boy didn't respond, just picked out a different colored crayon from the box that was set in front of him.

"What's your name?" He tried, still receiving no response.

From outside the room, the man glanced at Brennan with an 'I told you it wouldn't work' look on his face.

"It's not working," he told her.

"Just give him a minute," Brennan was starting to grow slightly annoyed at how impatient this man was, "I know he'll be able to get through to him."

"Listen," Booth lowered his voice a little, his tone less cheerful, "I know what's going on right now is scary, but we need your help to find out what happened to your mom."

The boy finally looked up at him, his brown eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"I want to go home," he whimpered, in a soft, barely audible voice.

"I know," Booth assured him, his voice soothing, "I know you want to go home, and I know you're scared, but I can't catch this bad guy who hurt your mom unless you answer a few questions for me."

After a few seconds of silence, the little boy spoke, his voice less frightened and slightly more audible this time.

"Do you always catch the bad guy?" The boy asked.

"Yeah," Booth chuckled, "I always catch the bad guy. Me and my partner," he smiled when he got just the tiniest fraction of a smile out of the boy sitting in front of him, "I have a kid who's probably just a little older than you, you know. How old are you?"

"Six," the boy responded, dropping his crayon to hold up six fingers, "do you have a boy?"

"I've got two boys," Booth smiled, reaching into his pocket to take out his wallet and pull out two pictures, "this is Parker, he's seven," he laid the first picture of Parker on the table, "and this is Christian," he laid out the picture of Brennan holding Christian the day she was released from the hospital.

The little boy seemed to study the pictures thoroughly.

"Who's that?" He asked, pointing to Brennan in the picture he showed him of Christian.

"That's my wife, Temperance," he told him.

"She's pretty."

"Yeah, she's very pretty," Booth glanced over at the two way mirror when he spoke, "your mom was very pretty too. I saw a picture of her."

"Yeah," the little boy smiled when he thought about his mother, "mommy had brown hair like Temperance, but her eyes weren't blue like hers. Her eyes were brown like mine."

"And what about your dad?" Booth asked, "What does he look like?"

The boy's smile faded, and he shrugged.

"I don't know," he said quietly, "I don't have a dad."

"Oh," Booth tried to sound cheerful, not wanting him to get upset again, "that's okay."

"Do you have a dad?"

"Yeah, I have a dad...but he's not very nice," Booth paused, smiling a friendly smile once again, "we've been making such good friends and you still haven't told me your name."

"Anderson," the boy seemed to be comfortable enough with Booth to tell him his name now, "Anderson Carlos Castro. I'm Anderson because my grandma is Andresa, and Carlos because my grandpa is Carlos."

Booth smiled and nodded.

"Okay, Anderson, now you've gotta answer a question for me. Can you do that?"

Anderson nodded in return.

"I need you to tell me if there was anyone who your mom didn't like," he tried, "anyone who she told you was bad, or not to talk to?"

Anderson seemed to ponder the question for a little bit.

"Enzo," he said, "mommy had a friend named Enzo, but then they weren't friends anymore. Mommy told me if Enzo called our house to hang up and not to say anything, or to give her the phone. And I used to like to answer the door, but I wasn't allowed anymore. She said Enzo was a bad man. Mommy was allowed to talk to Enzo, because sometimes he would come over, but I had to hide in the basement when she did. She didn't like him, so he was never over that long...and he sounded mean."

"Do you know Enzo's last name?" Booth asked.

Anderson shook his head.

"I never met him. Mommy said I wasn't allowed to."

"Okay," Booth nodded, dropping the subject, since he didn't want to push anymore than he already was, and cause him any more trauma. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, putting on a happier voice, "So when you go home are you going to live with your grandparents?"

"No. I spent the week with them because they are going to live in a home now. One of those homes where a lot of old people live and they get taken care of. Mommy couldn't afford to take care of them anymore."

"Oh, okay. My grandfather lives in a home too," Booth kept a light tone, even though now he was concerned as to where this boy was going to stay, "so who are you going to live with?"

"I don't know," Anderson shrugged, his eyes lighting up when he looked back up at Booth, "can I live with you?"

"I don't think that's possible, Anderson," Booth laughed lightly, "but don't worry. My wife and I will find somewhere for you to stay. I promise."

"Okay," Anderson seemed happier now, "Agent Sully, the one who gave me these crayons and this coloring book, told me that I have to stay in this building today, so can I stay in your office with you?"

"Yeah, of course you can," Booth chuckled, even though he knew he would have to consult Cullen if he needed to go to the lab and had to take Anderson with him, "maybe you'll even get to meet my wife, if you're lucky."

When Anderson smiled at her husband, Brennan looked over at the man next to her, who still looked completely shocked that Booth had turned a silent child into an affectionate chatter box. With a confident smile, she just had to say it.

"I told you he could do it," she told him, before leaving him alone in the little area where they were watching Booth and Anderson converse.


	38. I'm Trying to Get You to Understand

**A/N: Hi. =] I don't really have much to say. I'm a little brain dead today. xD But, not too brain dead to write. **

**About the angst, I've come to realize that it's not going to be a one-chapter thing, so I can't really warn you about what chapter that it's going to happen in, because it's more of a build up. So even though it's nothing too angsty just now, I'll warn you that it's _going to start building very soon_. That's all I can really say for now. xD**

Chapter Thirty-Eight:

"I'm Trying To Get You To Understand"

When they stepped into the lab, Anderson looked around with wide eyes, looking at all the different pieces of lab equipment with an astonished expression. Booth had to laugh lightly at how fascinated he looked.

"You gotta stay close, alright, Anderson?" He asked, seeing how his attention immediately turned to the man next to him when he heard his name, "this place is big, and I don't want you getting lost in here."

"Okay," Anderson agreed, reaching over to clutch tightly onto Booth's hand.

Even though he was very mature, he was still small, so Booth had to make sure that he didn't go wandering off around the lab. When the little boy grasped onto his hand, he couldn't help but to feel immensely guilty. He promised that he and Brennan would find him somewhere for him to stay, and he knew that it was not a done deal that they would be able to. The last thing he would want was to let him down when he trusted him so much, even though he had only known him for a couple of hours.

"Bones is in her office?" He called out to the squints, waiting until Cam nodded in confirmation without looking over to him before he went to his wife's office, with Anderson's hand in his.

He knocked quickly, opening the door before she gave him permission to enter, to find her doing something on her computer.

"You know, Booth, there is no point in knocking if you're not going to wait for permission to enter," Brennan told him, not even having to look up from her computer to know that it was him.

"Well, you're my wife, I figured there was nothing you would be doing that you didn't want me to know about," he shrugged, "Anderson, this is my wife Temperance."

"Hi," he greeted her cheerfully, "I saw a picture of you from Mr. Agent Booth's wallet, and then another one in his office on the desk.

"Well now you're seeing me in person," she stood up so she could lean down to shake his little hand, "it's good to meet you, Anderson."

Anderson walked around Brennan's desk, examining the pictures that she had in frames. There was one of her and the rest of the 'squints' from a Christmas party, one of her and Booth that Angela had snapped around the time when they first got together, and one of her, Booth, and Christian that Portia had taken on her first official day working for them.

Barely even noticing that the little boy was wandering around Brennan's office, Booth spoke to her quietly, making sure that he couldn't hear.

"Caroline's here, and I have to go talk to her about our victim," he whispered, "do you mind keeping an eye on him for a few minutes."

"No, not at all," when he thanked her and turned to leave, she grabbed his arm gently, stopping him when something crossed her mind, "why have you become his official babysitter for the day? Aren't there other people who can watch him?"

"Well he likes me," Booth shrugged, "and, what can I say...I have a soft spot for him."

Brennan glanced over at the little Hispanic boy who was looking at her pictures, but not touching them.

"He _is_ cute," she commented, "and he's very sweet too."

"See? I knew you'd like him," he leaned down to kiss her cheek, thanking her for agreeing to watch him for a bit, "I'll be back in a few minutes to bring him back to work."

"Okay," Brennan smiled, pecking his lips softly before he left her office.

Anderson looked up from her pictures when he heard the door close, and saw that Booth was no longer in the room.

"Where did Mr. Agent Booth go?" He asked.

"He just went to talk to someone for a few minutes, but he'll be back," Brennan told him, seeing that he was looking at her pictures from a bit of a distance, "you can examine those more closely if you'd like."

With her permission, Anderson picked up the picture of her, Booth, and Christian, looking at it more closely.

"This is Christian," he said, proud that he remembered what Booth had told him in the interrogation room, "why is he so little?"

"He's just a baby," Brennan walked around her desk as well to stand behind him, "he's only two months old. Soon he'll be big like you."

Anderson giggled, setting the picture back where he found it.

"Mr. Agent Booth is nice," he told her, "he bought me a bag of cheese doodles. I really like him," he looked at her cutely, "I wish I could live with you and Mr. Agent Booth."

"We barely have enough room from us and the baby," she laughed lightly, "but we won't let you go into foster care. I'm sure we can contact a family member of some sort."

"What's foster care?" He asked.

"Nothing," Brennan shook her head, not wanting to upset him by explaining what could possibly happen to him, "you don't have to worry about it. Booth and I will-"

She stopped when there was another knock on the door. Assuming it was her husband, she called for them to come in, slightly surprised when it was Angela.

"Hi sweetie," she greeted her, looking at the little boy standing next to her, smiling brightly, "hi. I'm Angela."

"This is Anderson," Brennan told her, as Anderson waved cheerfully at the artist, "Adelina Castro's son. Booth is watching him for the day."

"Well lucky Booth," she laughed lightly, addressing the real reason she went into Brennan's office right after, "I just dropped Christian off with Portia at your place. He was an angel. To be honest, Hodgins and I were about to fist fight over who got to feed him."

Brennan laughed lightly before Angela continued.

"So did you and Booth have fun at the FBI thing last night?"

"Yes," Brennan didn't sound overly convincing when she stated that she had fun at the event, "but we had more fun afterwards."

"You know that's what I like to hear," Angela smiled, "I want details, Brennan."

"Not right now, Ange. There's a child in the room," Brennan was grateful that Anderson was there, since he was a good reason not to go into detail about the night prior, "I'll tell you about it a little later wh-"

She stopped when the door opened again and Booth came back into her office, causing Angela to exchange glances between the two of them, smiling the 'I know what you know' smile at him. Booth wanted to ask exactly how much detail Brennan gave to her friend with a six year old in the room, but decided against it.

"I've gotta talk to Bones for a minute," he said, "Ange, would you mind taking Anderson to your office for a little while?"

"Sure," Angela smiled, squatting so she was at eye level with the little boy, "do you like to draw?" She asked, receiving a nod and a big smile, "Come with me. I have all kinds of stuff to draw with in my office."

Once Angela and Anderson left, Booth took a seat on his wife's couch, propping a pillow up against the arm and leaning his back against it.

"Adelina Castro was in a gang," he told his partner, looking over to her before he continued, "I spoke to Caroline, and she said she was supposed to testify against a gang leader named Marco and someone named Enzo in a trial soon. Any of those names sound familiar?"

"In the interrogation room Anderson said his mom had a 'friend' named Enzo."

"Exactly. I have a feeling Enzo is Anderson's father too, and that's why our victim didn't want them to meet each other. Here's my theory...our victim was in a gang. Her and another member got romantically involved, she gets pregnant, and decides to leave in order to give the best life possible to her baby. When a few of the gang members get busted for killing someone, Enzo threatens to tell the authorities that she was involved unless she keeps quiet. She doesn't listen, decides to testify anyway, and when they realize that blackmail isn't enough to keep her quiet, they kill her."

"I guess it's possible, Booth, but you have no way of knowing that yet," she reminded him, "we need solid evidence. Your 'gut feeling' won't hold up in court."

"I know, Bones, that's why I need to talk to some of these guys. I'm sure none of them will confess, or rat each other out, but it'll help me get a feel for them," he shrugged, "and, who knows, they might slip up and say something that'll get them caught."

"Can I come with you to question them?" She asked.

"No," he said simply, standing up from her couch and smoothing his suit out.

Brennan was utterly shocked by his answer. Sure, she asked if she could come, but it was more just to be polite instead of just deciding to tag along without telling him she was doing so.

"Why not?" She asked, the shock audible in her voice.

"Because, Bones, you and I both know that you don't really have a great history with gang leaders," he told her, causing her stomach to tighten into a knot at the mention of 'him'.

She grasped his arm when he went to leave a little less than gently.

"Don't," she warned, her voice harsh, "don't bring up Villeda."

Booth turned to look at her, shaking his arm out of her grip.

"I'm just trying not to get you kidnaped again, or get another hit put out on your by yet another gang" he told her, his voice just as serious as hers, "I figured you would appreciate that...after what happened last year..."

"Stop," she spoke when his voice trailed off, looking up at him with pleading eyes, "please. You know that thinking about Villeda makes me sick, so why are you pushing it into my face?"

"I'm trying to get you to understand."

"I'm positive that there are better ways to do that," she turned around so she was looking at the wall, blinking back the tears that stung in her eyes for a brief few seconds.

"I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely, "that was out of line. I shouldn't have said anything about Villeda."

"And..." she continued, ignoring his apology, "there were plenty of times after the abduction that I came with you to question suspects."

"Yeah, regular suspects, not gang leaders," he reminded her, "you have to see why the gang leader thing makes me a little nervous. I'm surprised you even _want_ to be part of this case."

"Well I _do_ want to be part of this case, and maybe you should have asked me before you assumed," she crossed her arms over his chest, still not daring to look in his direction, "at work, you need to start thinking of me as your partner and not your wife. Maybe...I just should have continued to work with Ricky, because if you're going to be overprotective, this partnership isn't going to work out."

She brought up Ricky on purpose, and she knew that he probably knew that. If he was going to bring up a topic that was sensitive to her, like Villeda, she was going to bring up a topic that was sensitive to him. The topic of her relationship with Ricky.

"Well it's obvious that's who you want to work with," he told her, "so maybe you should have. The only reason you wanted to work with me again was because you were scared when that guy held a knife to me. If Ricky's who you really want...then go to him."

Brennan couldn't help but to feel like that may have had a double meaning.

"Just go, Booth," she scoffed.

"Do you still want to work with me?" He asked.

"What I _want_ is for you to get the hell out of my office," she finally turned to look at him.

"Fine," he kept his voice low, seeing that the topic wasn't up for debate, "I'll come back to pick up Anderson in a little bit."

Brennan uncrossed her arms, tugging at the bottom of her shirt.

"Is that all you're coming back for?" She had to ask.

Much to her surprise, Booth grasped her face gently between his hands and pulled her in to kiss her tenderly.

"No," he promised, once their lips separated, caressing her cheeks before he let go of her face, "I'm coming back for you too."

Before she had a chance to respond, he was gone, the door closing behind him, as he left her alone in her office, not knowing how she was supposed to feel after everything that just went on.

* * *

><p>When Booth came back to the lab to pick up Anderson after he spoke to Enzo and Marco, he didn't see his wife, figuring that she still needed a little more time to cool down after their fight. It wasn't until later that night that he went back to the lab specifically to speak with her. Since it was fairly late for a six year old, Anderson had fallen asleep in the back of the car, and he had to carry him through the lab to Brennan's office, knocking softly with the hand that wasn't supporting the small child in his arms. When she called for him to come in, he entered, making sure not to wake him up.<p>

"Hey," he whispered, closing the door silently behind him, and looking to the couch to see that she had picked up Christian from home, and he was sleeping in his car seat on the cushion to the far left, "what are you still doing here?"

"I didn't know if you were still angry with me, so I got Christian, let Portia leave, and brought him back here so I can work," she explained, gesturing towards the sleeping little boy in his arms before she spoke again, keeping her voice quiet as well so she didn't disturb him, "you still haven't gotten in touch with any family members?"

"No, not yet," Booth took a seat on the far right of the couch, allowing Anderson to continue to sleep in his lap, "I'll keep trying though."

Brennan stood up from her desk and took a seat in between Christian and Booth, looking at her husband sympathetically when he ruffled the little boy's hair.

"You shouldn't get too attached to him, Booth," she told him, "you know we can't keep him."

"Bones, he's not a stray cat," he had to chuckle at her warning, "he's a child. And I know we can't keep him. I have to continue to reach out to his distant relatives tomorrow. He may have never met them before, but at least they'll be family."

"He's going to be scared," Brennan told him, quickly clarifying, "it's not going to be your fault, but he'll be frightened going to live with someone he doesn't know. I'm afraid he's already grown very attached to you. He told me before that he wanted to live with us."

"Yeah, he said the same thing to me a few times today," he stroked the little boy's black head of hair gently again, "I promised I'd find him a place to stay, and I didn't."

Brennan could tell by the look on his face what he was about to ask.

"Booth, we can't," she answered the question before he could ask it, "we don't have room."

"It would only be for the night," he told her, "tomorrow I'll figure something else out."

"If we had more room it would be a different story, but we really don't," she said apologetically, "he'll have to stay at the Hoover tonight."

"Like he's in custody?" Booth shook his head, "No. I'm not going to do that to him."

After only a short silence, Brennan's office door opened again, and Angela came in, her coat already on and her purse in her hand.

"Hey, I just came to say goodnight," she said, lowering her voice when she saw Anderson, "is he staying with you guys?"

"We don't have room for him, but we may not have a choice," Brennan told her friend, "Booth feels uncomfortable leaving him in the FBI offices."

"I'll take him for the night," Angela offered nonchalantly, with a shrug of her shoulders, "he likes me. We drew together for a while and then Hodgins let him look in his microscope. We have a guest room he can stay in."

When Angela offered to take him, Booth was relieved, as he shook the child's shoulder gently to urge him awake.

"Hey, buddy, wake up," he whispered, seeing his brown eyes open to meet his, "would you want to stay with Angela tonight?"

Anderson yawned.

"I want to stay with you," he told him, "but Angela is nice, and Doctor Jack let me look at a bug."

"So is that a yes?" He laughed lightly, "Because, if it is, then I've gotta let you go with her now. But I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay," Anderson slid out of his lap, walking over to Angela and looking up at her, "I'm going to stay with you, okay?"

Angela laughed lightly and leaned down to hug him.

"You're cute," she commented, letting go of him and looking over at Booth, "do you have his things with you?"

"Yeah, they're in the back of my car, just come out with us," he stood up, offering his hand to Brennan, seeing her smile when she took it, knowing that their argument was only petty, and that it wasn't going to effect their partnership in the long run.

With the hand that wasn't holding Brennan's, he picked up Christian's car seat, and the five of them, Brennan, Booth, Christian, Angela, and Anderson, left the lab together.


	39. I Won't Judge You

**A/N: Hi everyone. =] I got this chapter out pretty quickly because I couldn't sleep last night, and strangely enough, I feel fine, considering I only got a few hours. xD And I realized it's almost been a year since I've been on fanfic, and that took me by surprise. It feels like it hasn't been that long. xD But I wanted to thank you guys for all of your support. If it wasn't for all of you, I wouldn't have even stuck around for a whole year.**

**Anywho...a lot of you were confused as to why Brennan didn't want to let Anderson stay the night, and that is explained in this chapter. Also, Ricky's back in this chapter (I know you're all excited xD) so enjoy.**

Chapter Thirty-Nine:

"I Won't Judge You"

"Booth?" Brennan ran her fingers over her husband's bare chest as he slept, keeping her voice soft, yet loud enough to wake him up, "Booth? Are you awake?"

She heard him groan softly as his eyes fluttered open, and when he turned his head to look at her, his sleepy brown eyes were greeted by her wide awake and alert blue ones.

"I am now," he murmured, turning over, from one side to the other, to look up at her, "my question is...why are you awake?"

Brennan glanced over at the clock, sighing when she saw that it was two thirty and she still hadn't gotten a second of sleep. Normally, after she made love with her husband, she was drained enough to fall right asleep, but tonight, it was a different story.

"Looking for round two?" He asked, when she didn't respond to the first question.

Brennan laughed half-heartedly and shook her head.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," she apologized, "just because I can't sleep doesn't mean I should prevent you from getting your rest."

"You haven't slept yet?" He asked.

With a sigh, she laid back down from where she was propping herself up on her elbow, and rested her head against her husband's chest. She was slightly comforted when his arm found it's way around her shoulders, holding her close and sharing body heat with her.

"I've just...been thinking a lot tonight," she told him, closing her eyes as she spoke, "you know...about Anderson. And my childhood," she paused, looking up at him, "I wanted to let him stay with us, Booth. I really did, but he's alone, and afraid. I didn't want to make him sleep on the couch in a small apartment. If we had an extra bedroom that we could have made up for him, it would have been different."

"He wouldn't have cared if he was on the couch," Booth filled her in.

"I know he wouldn't have cared, but _I_ would have cared," she was growing frustrated, seeing that he wasn't getting this. She sat up, tucking the sheets under her arms to cover her chest as she scooted away from him a bit, "it wouldn't have been like home for him. I know what it feels like to go into a foster home and to have to sleep on the couch, like you aren't important enough to even have a bedroom. I know we put Parker on the couch when he stays here, but that's different. Parker is your biological son, and he understands that we don't have a lot of space in here. Anderson...he would just feel like we didn't care."

"Because that's how you felt when your foster parents made you sleep on the couch?"

Brennan dabbed at a tear that escaped, wiping it quickly off of her cheek.

"They had another bedroom, but my foster mother's parents were staying over...so they gave them the extra bedroom and put me on the couch," she explained, "it was like they were saying that I wasn't part of their family. What I thought was 'my' bedroom was actually the guest room, and I wasn't even family enough to get that."

"I understand why you felt that way, Bones, but I don't think Anderson would have felt the same way," he told her, "the situations are different. We don't have a guest bedroom for him to stay in even if he wanted to, and Anderson hasn't been bounced from place to place. His mother just died, and this will be his first time in the system."

"We can't let him go into the system, Booth," Brennan shook her head, her voice cracking, indicating that she was close to tears again, "I can't sit here idly and watch a child go into the foster system...but I feel like there's nothing we can do. We can't adopt him. Even putting aside the lack of space, we're already dealing with a lot right now having a new baby. Adopting a child would just be irresponsible on our part at this point."

"Woah, Bones, slow down," Booth chuckled half-heartedly, "no one is talking about adopting anyone right now. You're right. Chris is enough for us to handle at the moment."

Brennan sighed and swiped the few tears that trickled down her cheeks away once again.

"You must think I'm a horrible person for almost making Anderson stay in the FBI offices," she said quietly, "if Angela didn't show up and offer to take him..." she paused, not finishing her sentence, "I don't want you to think I don't care, Booth. You think I'm terrible."

"No, baby, I don't think you're terrible," Booth assured her, sitting up as well so he could pull her into a tight hug, allowing her to rest her head against his chest, a few tears wetting his skin, "you were doing what you thought was best for him. And we'll find his family eventually. He won't have to go into the foster system."

Brennan stayed quiet, allowing him to run his fingers through her hair and whisper soft words of comfort to her.

"What if he doesn't have any more family?" She asked, voicing her fears on the subject, "What if it was just him, his mother, and his grandparents? Then what?"

"I don't know," he told her honestly, "we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Even if he does have distant family that he doesn't know...he's not going to want to live with them," Brennan told him.

"Well he certainly warmed up to Hodgins and Angela quickly enough to want to stay with them," Booth pointed out, "he's a friendly kid. If we find his relatives, he'll be hugging them and holding their hands within the hour. Look at how attached he got to me in just one day. If these are people who were actually family members of his mother, he'll warm up to them even faster."

"Booth, he sees you as a father figure," Brennan told him, "he never had a dad, and then you came in and helped him like you were the father he never had. That is why he adores you. And he likes Hodgins and Angela because you and I like Hodgins and Angela. His family may not have the same effect on him."

Booth kissed the top of her head softly, running his fingers through her hair to soothe her.

"Just relax and try to sleep," he whispered, hoping that she would listen to him instead of getting worked up about things that had still yet to happen, "Christian and I are here for you...and if you need to cry, then cry. I won't judge you."

Brennan kissed his chest softly, closing her eyes at the feeling of his fingers running through her hair, which, by this point, had barely any tangles left.

"I think I've needed to cry for a while now," she told him honestly.

"Go ahead," he whispered soothingly, knowing that, when she talked about her childhood in the system, sometimes she just needed to let out the emotion she was keeping pent up, "I'll even close my eyes if you want me to."

"You don't have to," her voice was shaking, and he could feel a couple tears wet his chest once again, "can we just stay like this?"

"Yeah," he whispered, "we can stay like this for as long as you want to."

* * *

><p>"Doctor Temperance, where is Mr. Agent Booth?" Anderson asked, as the two of them sat in the conference room.<p>

"He had to do field work today, but I am going to introduce you to someone else you'll like, and you can stay with him for the day, before you go home with Jack and Angela."

"I don't want to," Anderson shook his head, seeming slightly frantic, "I want to spend the day with Mr. Agent Booth or you or Angela or Doctor Jack. I don't want to meet someone else."

Brennan knew he must have been overwhelmed, meeting all of these different people and having to spend time with each of them. Getting bounced around from the lab to the Hoover building all day, staying in different people's offices at different times.

"I know it's a little scary at first, but I promise, you'll like my friend," she assured him, peeking out the window of the room when she could see him approaching, "as a matter of fact, here he comes now."

When he came inside, he looked at the two people sitting at the long table, a genuine and friendly smile on his face.

"Hey, Bren," Ricky greeted her kindly before looking over at Anderson, who was looking shyly at the table in front of him, "hola. Soy Ricky Hernandez."

Anderson looked up at him now, seeming slightly interested.

"Soy Anderson Castro. Habla usted español?"

Ricky nodded with a small laugh, taking a seat next to Brennan and across from Anderson.

"Si. Soy de ascendencia española. Mi padre habla español como primera lengua, pero lo hablo como mi segunda lengua."

"Yo también. No soy muy bueno en eso todavía, pero mamá me estaba enseñando."

"Ya veo. Mi español está un poco oxidado demasiado, porque no me llega a lo hablo muy a menudo."

Brennan looked genuinely surprised when Ricky carried the conversation in fluent Spanish.

"I didn't know you spoke Spanish," she told him.

"Well I don't go around speaking Spanish all the time, so I'm not surprised that you didn't know," he laughed softly, "I try to use it when I can though. My dad always complains that I'm losing touch with my roots."

"You know, I knew your last name was Hernandez, but you don't look very Hispanic," she commented, "I guess I forget sometimes."

"Maybe that's because we never see each other anymore."

Brennan felt slightly uncomfortable when he brought up the fact, since the main reason she hadn't seen him in quite some time was because the last time they went out to lunch together, she and Booth had that big fight, and he wound up thinking that she slept with him.

"You know, I speak Spanish too," she told him, not responding to the last comment.

"Oh yeah?" Ricky asked, his voice challenging, "What were we just talking about?"

"Anderson asked if you spoke Spanish, and you told him you're of Spanish descent, but it's your second language. You said your father spoke it as his first, but you speak it as your second. Then Anderson told you that his mom was teaching him Spanish, but he isn't very good at it yet, and you said your Spanish is a little rusty because you don't speak it very often."

"Wow!" Anderson chimed into their conversation, "Doctor Temperance is so smart!"

"Si, ella es muy inteligente," Ricky smiled over at her, waiting until she smiled back before he spoke again, his voice slightly softer than it was when he spoke cheerfully to Anderson, still having the same happy tone, but with a hint of seriousness to it, "ven a cenar conmigo."

"I can't come to dinner with you," she laughed in a breathy tone at the slightly flirtatious request, "I have to go home to let our nanny off. And then I have a child to attend to."

"Can't Booth do that for an hour?" He asked, an innocent smile on his face, "come on, Bren. We're supposed to be friends...and I never see you anymore. One dinner isn't going to kill you, is it?"

"I guess not," Brennan said reluctantly, "but my husband might be mad," she paused, looking at him with a sympathetic expression, "I just don't want to cause any problems between Booth and I. We're just starting to get back on track."

"Bren, we're not going on a date. We're just going out to eat," Ricky laughed, looking over to Anderson, "what do you think, Anderson? Should Brennan come to dinner with me?"

"Yeah," Anderson nodded eagerly, "I will keep Mr. Agent Booth company for you, Doctor Temperance. He won't be lonely."

Brennan couldn't help but to laugh at how adorable this little boy was.

"Well...if Anderson thinks I should, then maybe I should," she said, with a smile.

"Good to know that you listen to Anderson and not me," Ricky was smiling as well when he spoke, "meet me at Wong Fu's at eight."

"No, not Wong Fu's," Brennan said, almost a little too quickly, knowing that Wong Fu's was kind of she and Booth's place, "I'm not really in the mood for Wong Fu's."

"Alright," Ricky chuckled, "then let's try that new Italian place."

"Okay, sounds good to me," she stood up, smoothing out her shirt, "thank you for keeping an eye on Anderson until Booth gets back, by the way."

"No problem," Ricky brushed it off as if it was nothing, "Anderson and I are going to become great amigos."

Brennan smiled and waved goodbye to both of them.

"Have fun with Ricky today, Anderson," she looked back to her ex-partner after she addressed the child, "I'll see you at eight."

* * *

><p>After dinner, Brennan had to stop back at the lab to get her things, and Ricky agreed to go back with her, just to keep her some company. Even though they had a nice dinner, strictly as friends, Brennan was not looking forward to explaining where she had been to her husband, knowing that he could misconstrue it as being something more than it was.<p>

"I don't think I'm going to eat again for another week," Ricky commented as they entered her office, and Brennan began to gather her things, putting her jacket on over her shoulders.

"I would have to advise against that," Brennan laughed lightly, "maybe you wouldn't be so stuffed if you didn't fill up on bread before our main courses even came."

"Hey, that bread was out of this world. Don't even deny it."

"Bread is bread, Hernandez. You are just easily excited," Brennan turned to look at him once her jacket was on, with a smile, "it was good catching up though. You always know how to get a few laughs out of me."

"Yeah, I'm pretty hilarious," he agreed playfully, looking back at her with a smile as well, "and you aren't too dull yourself, Bren."

"I'm inclined to agree with you," she laughed very softly.

When it grew silent between them, and they simply exchanged looks, Brennan began to feel slightly uncomfortable. But it wasn't until he leaned in, his lips slightly parted, that she took a quick but subtle step backwards, her heart pounding at the reality of what he just tried to do.

"Ricky, I'm married," her voice was weak, as she held up her left hand.

"I...I know," Ricky stuttered, his cheeks heating up in embarrassment, "I didn't mean to...I'm sorry, I just...I wasn't trying to..."

"I know," Brennan said quickly, grabbing her purse off of the floor, "I should go."

"Bren, I didn't mean to freak you out," his voice was pleading, "I don't know what I was thinking."

"You didn't freak me out."

When she mumbled the words they clearly rang false, since it was apparent that she was very freaked out at the moment. Ricky tried to explain himself again, but before he could even get the words out, she was gone, making her way quickly out of the lab and to her car, her head spinning when she got inside and closed the door behind her. Resting her forehead against the steering wheel, she let out a shaky breath.

"Oh God," she whispered to herself, thinking back to all of the times her husband tried to warn her that Ricky did not want to just be friends, "Booth was right."


	40. This Isn't Up For Debate

**A/N: Just a quick author's note today because it's late here and I'm extremely tired. I just wanted to get this one out to you guys. So, if there's errors, blame it on how exhausted I am. xD**

**Just a warning, this chapter is very angsty. So if that's not your cup of tea...well, yeah. And the worst part is that this is all still build up. Sorry guys.**

Chapter Forty:

"This Isn't Up For Debate"

Brennan wasn't sure why she was feeling guilty as she unlocked the door to the apartment that she and her husband shared. She felt like she was taking the walk of shame...like she had just done something immoral, even though she didn't. When she stepped into the house, seeing her husband sitting on the floor with their son, she bit her lip, closing the door noisily behind her.

"Hi, Bones," he greeted her, never looking away from the baby on his lap when he spoke, "did you and Ricky have a nice dinner?"

"How did you know I was with Ricky?" She asked softly, placing her purse on the floor and wringing her hands nervously.

"Anderson," he said simply, "he said Doctor Temperance went to dinner with her friend Ricky Hernandez, but she didn't want to tell me because she didn't want to start trouble," Booth finally looked up at her with a serious expression, "dinner wouldn't have been trouble, Temperance. It only would have been trouble if it was more than dinner. So what were you really doing that you didn't want me to find out about?"

"Nothing!" She said defensively, "I mean...not nothing. We went to dinner, but that's it. I just thought it would cause trouble because you would misconstrue it the way you are now. Now I think it's quite clear why I didn't want to tell you."

"If you were just having dinner, Temperance, you wouldn't be looking so guilty right now," he told her, "what happened?"

"Ricky tried to kiss me," she explained, glancing at the floor as she spoke softly, "but I didn't. I stepped back and reminded him of my relationship status," she looked up at him apologetically, feeling as if she had to speak again when she saw the look on his face, "please don't be angry with him."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't be."

"Because...he's just confused. He obviously has feelings for me, but he knows-"

"Obviously he doesn't 'know', or else he wouldn't have tried to plant one on you."

"Booth, please, lower your voice," she pleaded with him, "you're going to upset the baby. I know he can't understand what we are talking about, but he can sense people's tones."

Without responding to her, Booth turned to go to Christian's room, and set the half asleep baby in the crib so they could continue their conversation without fear of upsetting him. When he went back out to the living room, Brennan was still standing there, her arms crossed defensively across her chest as she looked at the floor.

"He can't help who he is attracted to, Booth," she said softly, "he admitted that he was attracted to me a few weeks ago...but I didn't think it was a big deal. He specifically said that he thought I was pleasing to look at, but knew his limits. It was just spur of the moment. He didn't mean it, and I can assure you, he won't ever try to kiss me again."

"Why are you defending him?" Booth asked, "Why is it that Ricky can do no wrong?"

"Because he didn't do anything!" She raised her voice a little, looking back up at her husband, "He was mortified when I rejected him. He wasn't thinking."

Booth stayed quiet, turning to face the wall, pushing his hands through his hair and trying not to take out the anger he was feeling on her, since she did do the right thing by pulling away after all.

"Booth?" Her voice was quiet when she grabbed his attention again, "please...don't be angry with me."

"I'm not mad at you," he told her honestly, even though she wasn't sure if he was being entirely truthful, since he still wouldn't look at her, "I'm not mad at you, Bones. You didn't do anything wrong, other than indulge him, I mean. I'm mad at Ricky...not you."

"Indulge him?" Brennan asked, "I did the exact opposite! If I was indulging him I would have let him kiss me, and let him think that I have feelings for him. Which I don't."

Booth wanted to snap at her, tell her that the fact that she had to add in that last sentence meant a lot, but chose not to. He really didn't want to fight with her over this, especially since nothing actually happened. That was the fact he needed to keep reminding himself of. Nothing happened. They didn't kiss. Their lips didn't touch. She was loyal to him.

"Bones, I don't want to fight with you," he told her seriously, "all I'm saying is that you have been indulging him, whether you think so or not. Whether it's intentional or not, you lead him on. I mean, hell, you go on more dates with him than you do with me."

"We weren't on a-"

"You were on a date," when he finally turned to look at her again, she looked livid, "don't look at me like that either. When's the last time we did something like that?"

"Don't make this about you and I, Booth," she murmured.

"Exactly...there's my answer," he told her, "the answer is we _don't_ do stuff like that. You're all about going out to dinner with Ricky, but when it comes to doing something as simple as going to a charity even with your husband, it's like pulling teeth."

"Because I don't like events. I never have, and you know that."

"You know, you really have an answer for everything, Temperance."

"Booth," Brennan took a deep breath, knowing that they needed to be serious, "if I wanted him, I could have had him tonight. And I chose you. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"Yeah, Bones...it means something," he assured her, lowering his voice a little, his tone much calmer now, "but it also means something that no matter how many times I warned you that his feelings for you were more than feelings of friendship, you still wanted to hang out with him."

"Because he's my friend, Booth," she said, her voice pleading, "you're trying to say that, because I'm married, I can't have male friends anymore? Because that is a little crazy, if you ask me."

"I'm saying I don't want you hanging around guys who want to sleep with you," he explained calmly, "that's all."

"You're ridiculous," she mumbled, turning to walk away from him until he grasped her arm gently, making sure she didn't go anywhere, "let go of me. I don't feel like being lectured any longer, if that's alright with you."

"We both know I'm not lecturing you," he told her, "you're right...if you wanted him, you would have taken up his offer tonight. But I knew this was going to happen, Bones, and it just as easily could have gone another way."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You _know_ what that's supposed to mean," he told her, "he would have kissed you if you didn't step back in time, and...I don't know. Maybe you would have liked it. Maybe you would have kissed him back. Maybe you would have let him take you home and-"

"But none of that happened!" She exclaimed, growing frustrated with him spinning off into stories that did not and would not happen, "I love _you_, Booth. I wouldn't let Ricky take me home...I wouldn't have even kissed him back. I'm married to _you_, okay? I want to be with _you_. I don't know what else I have to say..." she lowered her voice, seeing that as angry as she got, and as much as she tried to drill it into his head that she did not have those kind of feelings for Ricky, he wasn't buying into it, "I want to be with you. Only you."

Booth took a deep breath, closing his eyes in frustration.

"Then why do you still spend time with him?" He asked, "And don't say you're not going to anymore, because we both know you are."

"Because, for the third time, we're _friends_," she put emphasis on the word 'friends' when she spoke it, "God, you are so possessive, I can't even deal with it sometimes. So now, not only do you shove a ring onto my finger, but-"

"Woah, woah, woah," he cut her off, her words stinging more than she was aware of, "I did not 'shove a ring onto your finger'. You were the one who wanted to marry me."

"Because you pressured me into it..."

Her voice trailed off at the end, and she mentally bit her tongue, wishing that she could go back and keep herself from blurting that out in the heat of the moment. She knew it wasn't true, but she also knew that if she told him that now, it wouldn't make a difference. The damage was already done.

"I pressured you into it," the pain was apparent in his voice, "okay, Bones."

"Booth-"

"No," he cut her off again, the sad tone in his voice fading and turning into anger, "you want to know what your problem is, Temperance? You can't commit to anything," he stepped closer to her, looking her dead in the eyes, "the only things you can commit to are the damn bones laying on your autopsy table. I thought I could make you understand that being in love and being in a committed relationship isn't science. But obviously I didn't, and I can't."

Brennan grasped his shoulders, shaking them in an attempt to get him to understand the words she was speaking.

"I love you. We've been together for a year. Why are you doubting me now?"

"Because apparently you only married me because I forced you into it."

"I didn't mean that."

"Except you did. I was stupid to think I could change your mind about anything," he looked seriously into her eyes, as she let go of his shoulders, "you put these walls up, and you won't take them down for anyone. And it's because you're scared."

Brennan's shoulders stiffened a bit as she fixed her posture so she was standing up straighter, never breaking their eye contact.

"You say that love is a chemical reaction, and that feelings are remiss, but you're just hiding behind squint talk because you don't want to admit the truth. And the truth is, Temperance, that you're just distant and cold. You have been since I met you, and you always will be. You want to know why you can't hold on to any relationship you're in? That's why."

A sharp sound nearly echoed through the small apartment when her hand made contact with the skin of his jaw. Her eyes went wide, shocked by her own actions, as she immediately moved the very hand that she had just slapped him with to touch the red mark gently with her palm.

"Oh God," she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

It was like his childhood all over again, and the thoughts nearly made him shudder. He said the wrong thing, and he got hit. That was the way it always was with his father. Booth closed his eyes after she hit him, counting slowly to ten in his head to keep from exploding.

"Get out," he said calmly.

"Booth-"

"Bones," his voice was still calm, even though he had to raise it again to be heard over her, "this isn't up for debate."

Brennan's eyes welled up with tears as she tried her hardest to blink them back.

"You're kicking me out?" She asked, her voice cracking.

"For now."

Brennan swallowed the painful lump in her throat, looking at him pleadingly.

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"I don't care," he said coldly, "I don't care where you go."

She couldn't help the tears that were escaping, as much as she tried to tell herself to hold it together.

"Should...should I pack?"

"Maybe."

Seeing that he wasn't sure of what he wanted at the moment, and that he wasn't going to be of much help, she turned away from him and went silently to their bedroom. She dug out a duffle bag and began to put a few things in before it became too painful, and she simply zipped it up with a minimal amount of her things packed.

When she looked to their night stand, their wedding picture seeming to be taunting her, she grabbed it and unzipped her bag once again to place it on top of her clothes. Grabbing the strap, she dragged the duffle bag back out to the living room, seeing that her husband was now sitting on the floor, his back against the wall and his head in his hands.

Brennan silently dropped the strap of her bag and sat next to him, moving her hand to place her palm against his knee. She could see him peek at her through his hands, but make no effort to move or ask her to. So, since he seemed okay with her sitting with him, she became bolder and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her forehead against his shoulder. Booth wasn't aware that she was crying until she made a small sobbing sound, causing him to turn his head to look at her.

"I'm so sorry," her sob sounded loud in the quiet apartment as she held onto him for dear life and cried into his shirt, "I'm so sorry, Booth. I'm so sorry."

He never told her it was okay, but his nod was enough to reassure her. She could swear she felt a few of his own tears touch her skin when he rested his head against hers, but she figured she was only imagining it.

"I love you," she cried, "I love you. And I don't want to go."

He nodded again, his hands stroking her back.

"Just..." he started, his voice vulnerable, "just stay with me...okay?"

Brennan was the one to nod this time as they just held each other close, allowing both of them to calm down from the emotion of the night. The only sounds in the apartment, for quite some time, were the sounds of her crying, and the two partners stayed like that, sitting on the floor and holding each other, until they grew too tired, and had to go to bed.


	41. You're Not His Father, Brennan

**A/N: Hiya guys. =] I'm like 98% sure that it's my one year anniversary with FF, so I just wanted to thank all of you for all of your support through any one of my stories (even the fluffy little one-shots xD). I feel like I've grown a lot as a writer being here, and you guys are all very kind and supportive. Having support from all kinds of talented and friendly people really means a lot to someone like me, who's young and really never took any kind of creative writing classes of any sort. But, anyway, here's hoping to more happy years with all of you. =]**

**Now that I'm done being all mushy, we can get to the actual reason you're here, which is to read. xD **

Chapter Forty-One:

"You're Not His Father, Brennan"

"Agent Booth, you didn't have an appointment," Sweets said, his voice trailing off when he saw the desperate look on his friend's face, "are you okay? You look like hell."

"Would I be here if I was okay?" he asked, taking a seat on the psychologist's couch, "and I'm glad to know I look as crappy as I feel, because I feel like hell."

Sweets looked at him sympathetically as he leaned back against the back of the couch.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked.

Booth took in a deep breath, leaning forward again to rest his elbows against his knees.

"Not really," he told him honestly, "but I should," when Sweets stayed quiet, Booth took it as his signal to speak his mind, and voice what was stressing him out so badly, "really, Sweets, I'm going to feel bad dumping all of this on you. You probably can't even help."

"You don't have to feel bad talking about what's bothering you with me, because I'm a psychologist...it's kind of what I do," he chuckled half-heartedly, "and, although I'm not going to promise that I can help, I'll do whatever I can to try."

"Bones and I are fighting," he told him vaguely.

"You and Doctor Brennan are always fighting," Sweets chuckled again, "I would think it was unhealthier if you _weren't_ bickering at this point."

"No, I didn't say Bones and I are _bickering_," Booth clarified, "I said we're _fighting_. Like...'not really on speaking terms' fighting," he paused when he saw that Sweets was looking at him curiously, "every morning, before I leave for work, I wake her up, kiss her, and tell her that I love her. And today...I just didn't. I just didn't want to. It scares me that we went to sleep and woke up, and I was still mad at her. So mad that I didn't even want to tell her that I loved her."

"Do you mind rewinding and explaining what you were mad at her for in the first place?"

"We fought last night, Sweets. I just said that."

"But you've fought before," Sweets was incredibly confused now, "you guys fight and then you make up. That's just the way it's always been with you. I'm sorry if this sounds insensitive, Booth, but you and Doctor Brennan fighting is nothing earth shattering. In healthy marriages, spouses fight. It's going to happen. There's no avoid-"

"I kicked her out," Booth cut him off, needing him to understand that this was more than just two spouses having a disagreement, "I told her to get out of my apartment."

The psychologist's jaw dropped slightly when he heard the words, trying to make it look as casual as he possibly could.

"You...told her to get out?" He asked, "For good?"

"I don't know what I was asking for," he told him honestly, "I didn't know if I wanted her out for good, or if I just wanted her to leave me alone long enough to cool down, or if I just needed her out for the night, but I actually said the words. She packed her bag and everything," Booth looked at him desperately, "she told me she didn't have anywhere to go...and I told her I didn't care. I looked her dead in the eyes and said I didn't care where she went. But...I mean...she hit me. What was I supposed to do?"

"Doctor Brennan struck you?"

"She slapped me, because I said a few things, but I'm not taking the blame for this one," Booth stood his ground, "sure, I crossed a line, but so did she, not only by hitting me, but by telling me that she regretting marrying me."

"Do you mind if I ask what the hell you were fighting about that got both of you this worked up?" Sweets asked.

"What do you think we were fighting about?" Booth scoffed, "What's the only thing we fight about anymore?"

"Agent Hernandez?"

"What gets me is that you can see it, and she can't," he mumbled, "she doesn't see that her friendship with Ricky is putting a strain on our marriage. And the last person I want to be is the husband who gets jealous every time his wife glances at another guy...but it's just...you know what? Never mind. It's stupid."

"No, no, go ahead and talk," Sweets urged him, "I'm sure it's not stupid.

"It's just...the way she looks at Ricky...I feel like that was the way she used to look at me. You know, before we were together. The sort of 'I want to be with you, but it would be completely inappropriate' kind of look."

"Take it from someone who is trained in studying human behavior, Booth. She doesn't look at Ricky the same way she looks at you. You know Doctor Brennan has trouble with emotions. I think her problem is that she _does_ love you, and she doesn't know how to handle that."

"Well she did a fine job handling it for the first ten months we were together. As soon as she met Ricky, she can't handle being in a relationship anymore."

"Booth, I think her feelings for you extend deeper than she thought they could," Sweets explained, "I think hitting your one year anniversary shined light onto the fact that what you have is permanent."

"And the ring on her finger didn't?"

"No, she knows you guys are married, and that marriage is permanent, but I just think that the one year mark really emphasized that. I believe she-"

"Sweets, I know you're trying to help, but I feel like you're just making it worse."

"But..." Sweets nearly choked on the words, not sure of how he was making this worse in any way, when he was simply trying to help, "I was just telling you-"

"I know, Sweets, and it's not your fault," Booth assured him, sitting up straight as if he was about to get up from the couch, his tone much softer and more vulnerable than Sweets could ever remember hearing it, "it's just...my marriage is falling apart, and I really don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about my wife anymore because I don't know how much longer she'll be my wife for."

Sweet's mouth hung slightly slack when he spoke the words.

"You're splitting up?" He asked in disbelief.

"I don't know anymore," Booth sighed and relaxed again, closing his eyes in frustration, "I want to be with her. I'm in love with her. But I feel like this isn't working, and I feel like it's one of those things that just never _will_ work."

"No," Sweets tried his best to be reassuring, "no, of course it can work. You guys have had a fantastic relationship for over a year. This Ricky thing is just a phase, and it'll pass. I'm willing to bet money that if you ask her if she wants to break up, she says no."

"Is it sad that I don't even know anymore?" Booth asked, pushing his hands through his hair with a long sigh, "I think she'd say no...but I wouldn't bet my life savings on it," he stopped when his phone began to ring, taking it out and looking at the caller ID before he pressed the button to mute it and placed it back in his pocket.

"Was that Doctor Brennan?" Sweets asked.

"Yeah, I'll call her back later."

"Did you just reject her call?"

"No, I just muted the ringer," he actually stood up this time, brushing off his jacket, "I'm gonna go back to work. But thanks for listening to me blather about my marital problems for twenty minutes."

"That's what I'm here for," Sweets reminded him, "although I would appreciate it if you could make appointments in the future."

Booth chuckled for the first time that day, smiling a weak half smile as he left the office.

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Booth. It's me..." Brennan sighed, forcing back her tears, not wanting to cry anymore, "I know you're probably still mad at me...and you have the right to be. I shouldn't have struck you last night, and," she paused again when her voice crackled a bit, "just call me back, okay?" she wiped a tear only a second after it trickled down her cheek, "I love you...bye."<p>

When she hung up the phone, she rested her head against her desk, allowing herself to cry just one more time. She had promised herself that she wasn't going to cry anymore, but she just needed this one, last, good cry before she stuck to that.

A knock on her door caused her to straighten up, wiping her tears and sniffing before she called for the person to come in. When Angela entered her office, the smile she was wearing quickly faded, and she rushed over to her side.

"Sweetie," she said softly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Brennan lied.

"Something," her friend frowned, placing her hands on her hips, "Anderson is occupied looking at bugs with Hodgins, so I have time to talk. Boys, right?"

Brennan sighed when Angela sat on her couch, making herself comfortable.

"I have a feeling my marriage to Booth is not going to last much longer," she mumbled, almost ashamedly, as she looked down at her desk.

"Brennan!" Angela was shocked that she would say such a thing, "What is wrong with you? Why would you even say that?"

"Because, Angela, we got into a fight last night!" Brennan raised her voice a bit, becoming frustrated with her business being everyone's business, even though Angela was her best friend, "I hit him, he told me to get out, he didn't kiss me goodbye this morning and now he won't answer my calls."

"Can you please just, rewind a bit?" Angela asked, "You lost me at 'we got into a fight last night'. I thought I heard something about you hitting him and him kicking you out..."

"Well then you heard me correctly," she lowered her voice again, "we were fighting because Ricky tried to kiss me last night-"

"Okay, how much happened in one night?"

"A lot, Ange. Now can you please let me finish?" She waited for a few seconds of silence before she continued, making sure that she wasn't interrupted again, "Ricky tried to kiss me last night, and I did the right thing by telling Booth, but it just escalated into a huge fight. To shorten a long story, I basically said I never wanted to marry him, he called me cold and distant, I slapped him, and he told me to leave."

"So you left?"

"No. He was really upset when I came back out with my bag, so I sat next to him and held him close...but I don't think he cared. We slept in the same bed last night, but we didn't sleep close like we usually do. And when he left for work this morning he didn't wake me up."

Angela frowned, motioning for Brennan to join her on the couch. When she joined the artist on the couch, she drew in a deep sigh, leaning her head against her best friend's shoulder in defeat, allowing Angela to rub her own shoulder comfortingly.

"I shouldn't have hit him, Angela," she said softly, "if I was thinking straight at that moment, I _wouldn't_ have hit him. His words just stung so badly that it was my initial reaction...but I turned into his father, and I think that's why he's so angry."

"You're not his father, Brennan," Angela assured her, "he knows that."

"Does he?" Brennan asked, picking her head up to look at her friend once again, "Because what I did and what his father used to do are strikingly similar. Honestly, I wouldn't even blame him if he was having divorce papers drawn up right now. He had to deal with being abused by his father his entire childhood. He shouldn't have to take it from me now."

"But, sweetie, you didn't _abuse_ him," Angela was desperately trying to get through to her, since, at this point, it seemed like she had given up and wasn't even trying to salvage their relationship, "you slapped him. Once. And while you definitely _shouldn't_ have, it happens."

"He would never hit me," Brennan mumbled, "ever. Not even in the heat of the moment."

"That's different."

"How? What is different about it?"

Before Angela had a chance to try to explain the difference, Brennan's phone was ringing. She stood up to grab it off of her desk before picking it up, her voice flat when she answered.

"Brennan."

"Bones...it's me."

"Booth," she nearly sighed in relief, even though his voice still sounded slightly cold, "I'm kind of glad you called, becau-"

"I just spoke to Portia," he cut her off flatly, "Christian isn't feeling well. She said he's been crying and sneezing non stop, and his cheeks are flushed. So I'm taking the rest of the day off and going to take care of him, and I told Portia to take the day too. I just need to know if I should bring him to the doctor or anything."

"You probably should," Brennan told him, her voice losing the life behind it when she realized that he wasn't calling because he forgave her, but because he had a question about their son, "just to be safe. Do you want me to come home too to help you?"

"No, I can handle it," he assured her, "so I'll take him to the doctor when I get home; I'm in the car right now. Do you want me to stop by the lab on the way back from the doctor so you can see him?"

"If it's not out of your way, I would appreciate it."

"Alright, then I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay," she paused for a moment before she spoke again, "see you then," she paused again when she didn't receive a response, "I love yo-"

She stopped when she heard the dial tone on the other end, indicating that he had hung up some time ago. Her expression not budging, she closed her phone and set it on her desk once again, the realization hitting her like a freight train. Booth still didn't forgive her. The only reason calling her had even crossed his mind was because he was worried about Christian. That was who they were now. Two people who shared a child together, like him and Rebecca.

"So?" Angela asked, feeling as if she was walking on eggshells, "Did you and Studly make up? Is it all happy and nice again?"

Brennan simply shook her head, focusing her eyes on the desk in front of her.

"Ange, I really just want to be alone right now," she told her, trying to be as nice as possible about the whole thing, "I really don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Okay," Angela half smiled in sympathy, "just know that if you need someone to talk to, or if you just need a friend..."

"I know," Brennan assured her, "and thank you."

Angela blew her a friendly kiss before she left her office, shutting the door quietly behind her, and letting her friend sit in her office by herself, which was exactly what she wanted at the moment. She didn't want to talk to anyone, or go out where everyone else was to continue to work. She wanted to be just like this. Alone.


	42. Last Time

**A/N: Okay, here goes. A lot of you are going to be really upset with me after this chapter, but I'd really appreciate it if you could all stick with me. That's all I'm gonna say right now, and I'll blab again at the end xD**

**Also, some of you have given me suggestions, all of which I really liked, but I've had these chapters planned out for a while, so I didn't actually get to use any of them. I just don't want you all to think it's because I don't think they're good. xD**

Chapter Forty-Two:

"Last Time"

Brennan was on the computer in her office, looking at pictures of the inside of the house that she was looking at a week prior. The house really was beautiful, and she could picture the three of them, her, her husband, and Christian, living there.

When she thought about the conversation she and Booth had while they were walking Chris around, she only managed to get upset all over again. They'd talked about having more children, extending their family, but now she wasn't even sure if the family they already had was staying in tact. She knew that if things continued to go this way, they wouldn't have a chance to move into the house, and they wouldn't have a chance to have more kids. Booth had said that he wanted to try to have another baby when Chris was a little older, but she couldn't imagine that he still wanted that.

When she heard a knock on the door, she stood up and went to open it herself, not wasting her energy calling for them to come in. When she opened the door, she was greeted by her husband's warm eyes, and she tensed just a bit.

"Hi," she said softly, taking a step back so he could enter her office, closing the door behind him. He set Christian's car seat down and picked him up, hearing him whine when his little blue hat was removed, "how is he? What did the doctor say?"

She felt her heart break a little when she looked at Christian, who was nestled up into his father's arms, bundled in several blankets, with rosy cheeks and glassy eyes.

"He's fine," Booth assured her, looking at her with a small smile, "I know he doesn't look fine, but the doctor said it's just a cold. He's too little for medicine though, so we just have to let it run it's course."

Brennan pressed the back of her hand against the baby's head, seeing his eyes open slightly to look at her.

"He's running a fever," she said, leaning down to kiss his head softly, "are you sure there's nothing we can do? I hate seeing him like this."

"Yeah, so do I, but the doctor said he should be fine in a few days," Booth picked Christian's hat up from where he set it in his car seat, putting it back on his head, "he's a trooper though. He _is_ our son."

Brennan laughed lightly, taking Christian into her arms when Booth offered him to her.

"You're right," she laughed, kissing the baby's cheek, "our little guy is a trooper," she waited a minute before she spoke again, feeling slightly awkward, "do you want to...stay for a little while?"

"Do you want me to?" He asked.

Brennan nodded silently, and, with her confirmation, he took a seat on the couch. She sat next to him, holding Christian close, making sure he was as comfortable as he could be at the moment. It was awkwardly silent between the couple before Brennan spoke.

"We should talk about last night," she told him, rather than asked, "we can't just pretend it never happened. Saying I've been thinking about it a lot would be an understatement. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day."

"Neither have I," Booth admitted, turning his gaze to the wall as he spoke, "I've been putting a lot of thought into everything that's been going on, you know, with us. And I just want to do what would be best for Christian."

"Of course," Brennan agreed, "so do I."

Booth turned his head to look at her seriously.

"Do you think it's healthy for him to be living in this...dysfunction?"

"I'd hardly call it dysfunction," Brennan had to laugh lightly to keep from sobbing, since she was pretty sure she knew what was coming next, "we had a fight, Booth. I'm not an expert on domestic family life, but I'm willing to bet we are not the only married couple that fights."

"Bones, most married couples don't go out of their way to hurt each other the way we did last night," he told her, "we both said some things, we both hit each other below the belt...and we both did it on purpose. I know that you're sensitive about people thinking you're unable to love...and you know my worst fear is you regretting our marriage. But we both went there."

"We were angry."

"That's not an excuse. We both messed up, and you know that what happened last night was more than just a little argument," he paused, continuing when he realized she wasn't going to comment, "I just want to know if you think we can ever come back from that."

"I think it's possible...if we change the way we're doing things now," she told him honestly, "obviously the way we're doing it now isn't working, but maybe if we worked on it, if we made some slight changes, it would help. Don't you think?"

Brennan could tell by the look on his face that he was disagreeing, but was trying his absolute hardest not to hurt her.

"Bones, I don't know-"

"Booth," she cut him off desperately, "we can work on it, right? We can make it work."

"I'm just thinking about what would be best for the baby," he glanced at Christian, who was now sleeping in Brennan's arms when he spoke of him, "and, I mean, I think it might be better for us too...personally and professionally."

Brennan closed her eyes and buried her head in her hands, not wanting to hear anymore.

"Things with us won't be like they are with Rebecca and I," he promised, "we'll work everything out, just the two of us. No fighting, no lawyers. We don't even have to make anything legal right now if you don't want."

Brennan wiped away the few tears that fell before she looked back up at him, feeling slightly comforted when his hand rubbed her back in slow circles, knowing that she needed to be soothed at the moment, and know that he didn't hate her.

"I just think we were better as friends. When we crossed that line, things got messy," he leaned over to kiss her cheek reassuringly when she sniffed, "I don't regret anything that happened between us, Bones. We gave it a shot, and, hell, we got a baby out of it. But we can't keep forcing something to work that never will."

Brennan nodded in agreement, sniffing again and wiping her eyes.

"Don't cry," Booth reached over to wipe some of the tears from her cheeks for her.

"I can't help it," she had to laugh lightly through the tears, "this is hard."

"I know," he agreed, pulling her close and allowing her to rest her head against the crook of his neck, "it's gonna be hard for a while. It's hard for me too," he half smiled when she looked up at him with tear stained cheeks, "I'm holding it together for you, Bones...but this is so hard."

"You love me," she was looking up at him innocently when she spoke.

"Yeah," he told her, and, at that moment, she was able to detect in his voice how much this was hurting him as well, "I love you. I don't think I'll ever be able to stop loving you."

"Me neither," she told him honestly, "you're the standard now, Booth."

"Well those are some pretty high standards," he joked, "you might want to lower them a little."

Brennan laughed lightly, amazed at how he could lighten up almost any situation, and leaned further into him, allowing him to hold her close to him and stroke her hair gently.

"You're my best friend," she told him, "that is one thing that isn't going to change."

"And we're still going to see each other everyday," he reminded her, "we're partners, we solve murders together. And we'll even meet up for dinner after work if you still want to."

"Of course," she assured him, with a small smile, as the tears began to build up again, "things will just go back to the way they were before we were...us."

Booth half smiled, wanting to kiss her head affectionately, but knowing that, that particular action was off limits now.

"Things won't be the same," he knew they had to be realistic about this, "like we both said when we started this thing, we can't just go back. But we can try to go back to the way things were, as best as we can."

"I would like to try," she told him, "you're right, we can't just go back and expect things to be completely normal. It's going to be difficult, and probably a little weird at first, but I believe we'll be able to manage."

"Yeah," Booth agreed with a half smile, "we've been through worse."

"Yeah," Brennan laughed when she repeated his word, "we have."

Brennan looked down at Christian, wanting to apologize for this. Booth believed it was better for him if they split up, which, in a way, maybe it would be, but she knew it was going to be hard for him growing up in two different houses, being bounced around from parent to parent.

"I still have the lease on my place," she reminded her partner, running her thumb over her wedding band when she spoke, "I can be out by tomorrow morning."

"There's no rush," he assured her, "take your time. You can stay as long as you want."

Brennan looked up at him again, unable to keep her eyes on the wedding ring around her finger.

"I think it would be easier for both of us if I just left as soon as possible and didn't drag this out," she told him honestly, "the longer I stay, the harder it's going to be to leave."

"You're right," he told her, "I'll help you pack when you get home, if you want me to."

"Won't that be hard for you?" She asked, "I just don't want it to upset you any more than it already has. Putting my things away may make it worse."

"I'm here to help, Bones," he reminded her, with a weak laugh, "it doesn't matter what's hard for me."

"It matters, Booth."

"It doesn't, okay? Just let me help. I'll feel better if I help and I'm not just watching you pack away your things."

Brennan half smiled up at him before she rested her head back against his shoulder with a long sigh, closing her eyes.

"Okay," she caved when he told her the real reason he wanted to help, "whatever makes it easier for you, I'm willing to do."

* * *

><p>"Bones?" Brennan was pulled out of her sleep when she heard a soft voice, opening her eyes slightly to see her partner kneeling next to the couch in his apartment, where she was fast asleep with a few pillows under her head and a blanket over her, "You don't have to sleep on the couch you know."<p>

"I'm trying to get used to not sharing a bed with you," she told him, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand as she looked at him, "although, the bed in my house is much larger and more comfortable than this couch."

"Tell me about it," he chuckled, standing up and motioning for her to do the same, "come on. Come to bed."

Brennan sat up, worrying her bottom lip softly.

"I really shouldn't."

"You'll be much more comfortable," he half smiled sympathetically, "you'll stay on your side, I'll stay on mine."

Only giving it a few more seconds of thought, Brennan stood up and followed him to bed, closing the door behind her when they were inside. When he turned on the light it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but she could immediately feel her heart start to ache. This was _their_ bedroom, and it would be the last time she'd ever sleep in it.

"You alright?" Booth asked, when he saw the way she was looking around with sad eyes.

"Yeah," she nodded, snapped out of her trance when he spoke, "I'm fine."

"I know it's hard, Bones," he knew, even though she was saying she was fine, that she really wasn't, "if you need to cry..."

Brennan just shook her head as she climbed into bed, nestling up under the covers. She could feel him join her in bed, but he didn't move to cuddle her the way he usually did. He just stayed over on his own side of the bed.

"How are you doing it?" She finally asked, in a shaky voice, "how are you being so calm about this?"

"Because I know it's what's best for all of us," he told her, turning his head to look at her, even though her back was to him, "trust me, when you actually leave, I'll be a mess."

Brennan turned onto her side to look at him, taking hold of the St. Christopher medal around her neck and tugging it gently over her head.

"Here," she thrust her hand towards him, just wanting to get this part over with, "this is yours."

"Keep it," he insisted.

"No," she said stubbornly. She was willing to share a bed with him one last night, but keeping his St. Christopher medal was just something that would be too painful for her, "take it. It's yours."

"No, it's yours. I gave it to you."

Brennan unclenched her fist from around the medal so she could put it back on him with shaky hands. When it fell back against his chest, she knew there was no way he could tell her to keep it again. She made it very clear, by physically placing it back on him, that she wanted him to have it. Since they had turned the lights back off in the bedroom, Booth couldn't even tell that she was crying until her shoulders shook with a sob.

"Bones-"

"Please, Booth, I can't right now," she sobbed quietly, "please just...understand that. I can't...I can't..."

Before she could complete her thought, he pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers as she desperately leaned up to meet him, allowing him to turn them so he was over her. She knew that this was probably the worst thing they could be doing at the moment, but she couldn't help it, as her hands slid under his t-shirt and pushed it over his head, feeling him do the same for her. When they broke the kiss to look at each other, Booth reached down to wipe her tears, his fingers trailing gently down her sides afterwards.

"Last time," he spoke.

Brennan nodded, pulling on the tie of his sweat pants.

"Last time," she agreed, cupping his face in her hands and pulling him down for another passionate kiss.

And when they made love, over and over again, until they were too tired to keep going, it gave her a glimmer of hope that maybe this wouldn't be the last time. She knew it couldn't possibly be the last time. Like he said in her office, they had been through worse, and she knew, without a doubt, this was just going to be something they had to get through.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And I hope that gave you guys a glimmer of hope too. I _promise, promise, promise_ that there will be a happy ending to this story, so I really hope you all can just stick this out. I've known this was going to happen from the first chapter, and I've been throwing subtle hints out there since the first chapter too, but, like I said, there will be a happy ending. I wouldn't have it any other way =]**

**And before you all go thinking I'm cruel and heartless, I _did_ get a little teary when I was writing Brennan giving him the St. Christopher medal back. Plus the fact that I was listening to a really sad song the whole time I was writing the end of the chapter didn't help. If you guys have never heard "Lullaby" by Shawn Mullins, go listen to it. =]**


	43. It's Just a Coffee Cup

**A/N: First off, I wanna thank you all for the incredible amount of feedback I got on that chapter. Let's keep that going. xD And I want to apologize to anyone who I upset with this storyline. I know it's a little sad, but I feel like the fact that I promised a happy ending should mean something (and I know it does for most of you, since some of you have told me). I was sad to see that a few of you are giving up on this story, especially some of you who have been with me since the beginning of Getting There. I can't force you to read though, so...I guess this is goodbye to some of you. Hopefully you find your way back here when all is said and done.**

**Secondly, (about to make a little speech here, so hang tight) since I didn't address this much, I just want to say that I do _not_ agree with _any_ kind of domestic violence. I think way too many people think it's okay for women to hit their husbands/boyfriends and it is not. Like one of you said in a review, if the genders were reversed it would be a big deal...so why is it okay for a woman to hit a man and not the other way around? I know, as another one of you said, that men are stronger and can take it, but no one should hit their spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend. I think it is just as bad for a woman to hit a man as it is for a man to hit a woman.**

**Ahem, anyway...getting off of my rant, go ahead and read, since I'm sure it's what you came for. =]**

Chapter Forty-Three:

"It's Just a Coffee Cup"

Booth woke up the next morning, putting on a pair of boxers and a pair of sweat pants before he left his bedroom, finding Christian in the living room in his swing and Brennan in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, wrapped in her silk robe.

"Hey," he greeted her, his voice still slightly raspy from just waking up, "I wasn't expecting you to still be here."

"I'm sorry," she apologized, taking a sip of her coffee, "I'll be out soon. I just wanted to have a cup of coffee and spend a little time with Chris before I left."

"Like I said last night, stay as long as you want," he shrugged, pouring himself a cup of coffee and taking it to the table, "and it's not like you're never going to see him again. Buy a crib and he can stay with you tonight."

"I also wanted to talk to you about that," she sat across from him, placing her cup on the table, "what are we going to do about splitting our time with Chris? I want to make sure we both get an equal amount of time with him. I don't want you to feel like I'm doing to you what Rebecca does to you with Parker."

"Nah," Booth laughed, with a shrug of his shoulders, "I know you won't do that. We'll figure something out. He'll stay with me until you get his things set up for him, and then we'll figure out how we'll split time."

"Okay," Brennan nodded, "we'll be together most of the time anyway during the week...and we can take him to dinner when we go after work," she paused looking at him from across the table and completely changing the subject, "if it's okay I'd prefer that we didn't tell anyone about us breaking up right now."

"Alright," Booth agreed, but seemed a little skeptical of the request.

"Well, some people can know," she clarified, "I just mean our work friends...Angela in particular. I'll tell my father, you can even tell Sweets if you feel like you need to talk to someone about it. And I'd suggest you tell Parker sooner rather than later."

The relaxed look on his face faded slightly at the mention of his older son.

"Parker is going to be crushed," he told her, "he loves you."

"He'll still see me," she reminded him, "we're not cutting each other off completely."

"I know, I just," he paused, shaking his head, "never mind. I'll tell him. I think I'm making it into a bigger deal in my head than it's going to be."

"I think you are too," Brennan's laugh was weak, as she finished her coffee and took her cup to the sink to wash it out, "I know I'm being a burden at this point, but would you mind if I got ready for work here? This way I can just drop my things off at my apartment and go?"

"No, you're not being a burden, and you know I don't mind you getting ready here," he joined her at the sink, taking the cup out of her hands, "and you don't have to wash this. You know you just have to put it in the dishwasher."

"Well I'm taking it with me, so I wanted to just wash it out really quick," she told him.

He glanced down at the cup that was now in his hands, his smile fading a bit when he saw which one it was. He had gotten it for her about a month after they got married as a joke when he went out of town, and he could still remember the way she laughed when he presented it to her, but reminded her that she couldn't use it for coffee until after the baby was born. It was a simple white coffee mug, but printed on it, was "I" a picture of a red heart and "My Hubby". She playfully scolded him, saying that she was never going to drink out of anything that said "I 'love' my hubby" but used it almost every morning, which told him that she secretly loved it.

"Unless you think it would be inappropriate to continue to use it," she added in, when she didn't receive a response.

"No," Booth forced a laugh, "it wouldn't be inappropriate. It's just a coffee cup."

"Of course," she agreed when he handed it back to her, and she washed it out before taking it over to her bags and zipping it into the side pocket of the red duffle bag, "and you can still use the Rolex I got you for Christmas."

"Trust me, I would have continued to use the Rolex with or without your permission."

Brennan laughed and unpacked a single outfit from her bag to wear to work.

"I'm going to get ready now, and then I'll leave and not continue to bother you."

"You're not bothering me," he assured her, "take your time. No rush."

Brennan smiled and nodded, turning to go to the bathroom before she remembered something, causing her to turn to face him once again.

"Booth?"

"Bones?"

"Thank you."

Booth offered her a smile, knowing that she wasn't thanking him for allowing her to use his shower.

"You're welcome."

* * *

><p>Brennan was proud of herself for holding it together so well at work, not letting her co-workers know that anything out of the ordinary was going on. But, then again, she wasn't nearly as upset as she imagined she was going to be, but she knew that, that was partially because of the civility of their break up. She knew, as much as she hated to admit it, that this was what they needed. Like he said, they tried, and they failed.<p>

She hadn't seen Booth since she left his apartment that morning, indicating that there was no news on the case they were working on, so when she heard a knock on her office door, she half expected it to be him, only to be surprised when it wasn't.

"Hey," Ricky's voice was friendly when he stood in her doorway, "mind if I come in?"

"Not at all," she said flatly, gesturing for him to join her in her office.

Ricky stepped inside, closing the door behind him, but remaining standing awkwardly at her door after it was closed.

"Listen," he started, "about what happened in here a few nights ago...I'm sorry. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like you've been avoiding me since that."

"Admittedly I have felt hesitant to talk to you lately," she told him, unbuttoning her lab coat and shrugging it off of her shoulders, "but that's just because I feel like it would be awkward to just have casual, friendly conversation after you tried to kiss me."

"Bren, I wasn't looking to try and steal you away from your husband or anything," Brennan nearly winced when Ricky referred to Booth as her husband, "I was just...I don't really know what I was thinking. We just had such a nice dinner, and we were laughing and having a good time, that I just kind of lost my sense of perspective for a minute. I don't want you to think I'm some sort of home wrecker, because I know you and Booth have a good thing going, and you have a baby, and..." he stopped when he saw her eyes well up with tears, "God, Bren, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."

"You didn't," she promised, wiping the tears as soon as they escaped her eyes, "it's not you, Ricky. It's not."

Brennan made her way over to her couch and sat down, staring down at the floor beneath her as she tried to pull it together. She felt him join her on the couch, sitting next to her, but keeping his distance.

"I just need to adjust," she mumbled, more to herself than to Ricky, "I just need to adjust to all of this change, but...I don't know how," she finally looked at him speaking pleadingly to her ex-partner, as if he knew what was going on, "my life is being turned upside down, Ricky, and I don't know how to adjust. What am I supposed to do? I don't even have anyone I can talk to. Everyone I am close to will be of no help."

"Bren, I would really like to help, but I have no idea what you're talking about," he told her, having to wonder if she was losing her mind and just spouting nonsense, "if you just explain what's going on, maybe I can help."

"Booth and I broke up," she blurted, dabbing at the tears that were running down her cheeks, "and there is no one I can turn to. I can't talk to Angela or my father, because they would just be urging me to get back together with him, I can't talk to Sweets because he would probably tell Booth everything I told him, and I'm not really close enough with anyone else to share this with them. I just don't know what to do anymore."

Ricky was still trying to get over the initial shock of hearing the news, but knew that he needed to comfort her, and keep her from spinning completely out of control.

"You can talk to me," he offered, "I won't even give you any advice if you don't want it. If you need to vent, I'll just listen."

"I can't talk to you about it because you have feelings for me. It would be unfair to push my relationship problems onto you," she cried, "nobody is going to be neutral on the subject, and there's just this pain in my chest that won't go away, no matter what I do. I try to remember that this was a mutual break up, and that it isn't anything Earth-shattering, but I'm having such a hard time. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Ricky. I have never had anything like this happen to me before, and I don't know what to do."

Knowing that she needed to just pour out her feelings, and didn't really want any advice, especially from him, on the subject, he simply pulled her close, hugging her and allowing her to cry on his shoulder. He wasn't sure if he had ever seen her this vulnerable before, willing to just hug him and let out the tears that she had been holding in all day, but he didn't mind. If this was what she needed, he would give it to her.

"You're gonna be okay," he assured her, "you'll be able to deal. It'll just take some time."

"I was with Booth for over a year," she told him, sniffing and wiping her tears, "he was the only man I ever said 'I love you' to. I never even said it to Sully."

Ricky looked down at her, confusion in his eyes.

"You dated Sully?"

Brennan nodded.

"A while ago," she told him, looking up at him from where her cheek was pressed against his chest, her tears wetting his shirt, "we were together for a while, until he left D.C. to sail around the ocean, and I told him I didn't want to go with him."

"You passed up sailing around on a boat for solving murders?" Ricky asked, with a small laugh, "You're crazy."

"I really don't know why I didn't go," she admitted, "if I went on that stupid boat with Sully, none of this mess with Booth would have happened."

"Hey, don't say that," he looked down at her, "if you went on that boat with Sully, then you would have never had Christian."

"Maybe I would have had little Christian Sullivan," she said bitterly.

"I don't know much about your relationship with Booth, but, from what I could see on the outside, it seemed like a good thing," Ricky told her, even though he knew that she was just letting out her anger at the moment, and didn't really mean what she was saying, "maybe it got messy at the end...but I don't think you really regret it."

"I don't," she sighed, resting her head back against his shoulder, "I want to, but I don't."

"And if you need someone to talk to, you have me," he assured her, "don't worry about what's fair for me and what's not, because it doesn't matter."

Brennan looked up at him again.

"So are you admitting that you have feelings for me?" She asked.

"I do...I have some sort of feelings for you," he admitted, "but it's nothing huge. I think you're beautiful, and you're kind, and wicked smart. Of course I feel something for you, but I'm not so crazy about you that I'm going to pounce as soon as you break up with your husband. I know you think of me as a friend, and if that's all I'll ever be, then I'm okay with that."

Without responding, Brennan simply leaned her head back against his shoulder and closed her eyes again, holding him close, afraid that if she opened them he would be gone and she would be in her office alone again.

There was a quick knock on the door before it opened, and she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Bones, I'm going home and I wanted to know if you wanted to grab din-" he stopped when he saw her curled up on the couch in Ricky's arms, "oh, hey. I didn't know you had company."

"I just stopped by to talk," Ricky knew his words seemed false, since the way they were cuddled up could have given Booth the wrong impression, "I haven't talked to Bren in a few days."

"So I guess dinner's a no go?" He asked, not even responding to his co-worker before he turned his attention back to Brennan, who was sitting up a little straighter now, but still had Ricky's arm around her shoulder.

"Maybe tomorrow, Booth," she told him, trying her hardest to make it look like she wasn't just crying, "I'm really tired," she waited until he nodded before she continued, "and is it okay if Chris stays with Max tonight? Max asked if he could spend some time with him."

"Sure, no problem," he said, "I'll pick him up now and bring him over to Max's."

"Thank you," Brennan thanked him as he offered her an uncomfortable wave and shut the door behind him, getting out of there as quickly as he could.

When they were alone again, Ricky looked at his ex-partner skeptically.

"Do you think he thought..." he left it open for her to interpret.

"No," Brennan shook her head as she stood up, letting his arm fall from around her shoulder, "of course he didn't think. We just broke up last night."

"He seemed a little uncomfortable," Ricky pointed out.

"He didn't think anything was going on," it sounded more like she was assuring herself than him, "he didn't think anything of it."


	44. She Was My Bones

**A/N: So you guys can thank your support and the crappy weather where I live for the quick update. =] **

**Just a quick request though. Here in the review section of Going the Distance, can we try to follow the 'do to others what you would want to be done to you' rule? Some of you (well really not some of you, since it was maybe only one or two of you) have been not-so-nice lately. Trust me, I can take critiquing, and I'm not saying that you can never say anything negative (because of course feedback won't be positive all the time), but can we try not to be rude about it? I know the angst isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I know some of you are upset by it, but being rude is a little uncalled for. It kind of dampens my spirits to see comments like 'this story is ridiculous and pathetic'. =/**

**Anywho, I'll be responding to a couple of reviews below (after the chapter), which is something I've never done before, so keep a look out for your name. I can't respond to all of them, since there are quite a few, but I always answer PMs, so if you have anything you want to say and would like a response to, PMing is probably the best way to go. =] The only PMs I won't respond to are rude ones. I'm not up for online bickering. xD**

Chapter Forty-Four:

"She Was My Bones"

Booth was sitting at the bar, his hair damp from walking outside in the rain, tossing his shot of scotch back quickly before placing the glass back on the hard wood surface. When he dropped Christian off to spend some time at Max's before Brennan could go pick him up, he assumed that his ex's father was aware of their split, and felt horrible when he realized that he still thought they were together. He felt like a jerk lying to Max, talking like he and Brennan were still together, and everything between them was alright, when it was really far from that. He knew Brennan should be the one to tell her father about their split, so he kept it to himself, as much as it hurt him to pretend they were still a couple.

He had lost count of how many shots he had taken by the time he threw back the next one, set on drinking until he wasn't thinking about her anymore. Until he wasn't longing to go home to her and his baby, wrap her up in his arms, and make love to her until his name was the only thing she could remember. He could still hear her breathless laugh when he'd tickle her sides after he got her out of her clothes, feel her sighs against his cheek when his hands would smooth over one of her sweet spots, smell the unique scent of her as he buried his face in her hair and breathed her in.

But all of that was practically distant history now, considering she seemed to be content with Ricky. It hurt to know that less than twenty four hours ago, he was making love to her, and now she was in Ricky's arms, holding him and laying her head against his shoulder. The woman who claimed to love him less than a week ago was moving on and finding comfort in Ricky, the man she claimed not to have any feelings for at all.

"Seeley Booth, you should really slow down with the shots before you pass out," Booth turned to look over his shoulder at the person behind him, seeing Kathleen standing behind him with a smile, "trouble in paradise with the wife?"

"Soon to be ex wife," Booth mumbled, as she took a seat next to him, "it's over between Bones and I, it has been since last night...and she doesn't even care."

"Bones?" Kathleen asked.

"It's a pet name," he told her, throwing back another shot before he continued, "it was a thing with us. She was my Bones."

Kathleen frowned and looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, "I wouldn't have made a joke if I knew it was that bad."

"It's okay," he shrugged, "you had no way of knowing. And I didn't come here for therapy, Kathleen. I came here to just...numb the pain. I just need to numb the pain for tonight, okay? And then I'll go home and sleep it off," he paused, looking at the surface of the bar, "and then tomorrow I'll wake up alone, I'll push through work, come back here, and do it all over again."

Kathleen placed her hand on his bicep, seeing his head turn towards her, their eyes meeting, hers looking warm and understanding while his looked cold and distant.

"You can't do that to yourself, Seeley," she said seriously, rubbing his arm gently, "I know it's hard, bu-"

"No, you don't know," he snapped, with a shake of his head, "no one knows. No one understands. No one will _ever_ understand. We went through so much together, and apparently none of it meant anything to her. I was the one who saved her when she was kidnaped by a gang leader. I was the one who would hold her and let her cry when she woke up from her terrible nightmares. I was the one who showed her that making love with someone you care deeply about is better than just _banging_ any guy that comes strolling by."

"You're angry," she observed.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "I'm angry. She's probably with him right now. They're probably having meaningless sex, and she's pretending she likes it, but she doesn't. Because she knows what the real thing feels like, and goddamn Ricky Hernandez could never give that to her."

"I'm sure she's not with him right now," Kathleen tried to be reassuring.

"You don't know her," Booth muttered, "she's wanted to sleep with him since day one, and I was stupid enough to encourage her to work with him," he threw back another shot, his words running together a bit now as he spoke, "I was trying to be a good husband. I was trying to let her have her independence."

"Alright, big guy," Kathleen took the last shot from in front of him, "I think you've had enough to drink."

Booth looked at her desperately, barely even caring about the scotch she took away from him, knowing that he needed to cut himself off anyway.

"I was just trying to be a good husband," he told her.

"I know. Sometimes we try to do the right thing and it blows up in our face. I bet you were a good husband though."

"Obviously not good enough. I mean...I was the one who suggested we break up, but I wouldn't have if we had a good, healthy relationship. I don't want our baby to grow up in a family where his parents are constantly fighting. It's not healthy for him."

"You have a baby?" Kathleen asked, attempting to pull focus in order to calm him down.

"Yeah," Booth reached into his wallet and yanked out the picture of Brennan and Christian, thrusting the photograph at her, "he's two and a half months old."

Kathleen smoothed her thumb over the picture, examining it closely.

"He's adorable," she commented, "and your ex is very pretty."

"She's beautiful," he murmured, taking the picture back when she offered it to him, putting it back into his wallet, "I still love her."

"I can tell."

With a long sigh, Booth put his head in his hands, closing his eyes tightly.

"I just," he paused, attempting to pull himself together, since he knew that he was close to losing it, "I just need to move on. I need to get over her."

"Seeley, it's only been a day," she tried to comfort him, remembering what he told her before about how it had been over since the night prior, "you don't need to get over it that quickly. If you really loved her, it's going to take time."

"Well it didn't take time for her," he reminded the woman sitting next to him, "she's already sleeping with someone else."

"You don't know that."

"I know. She spent the day with him, and now they're having sex in her apartment. In the same bed where I made love to her," he pulled his hands through his hair, disgusted by the thought, "I should do it to her. I should just have meaningless sex with a stranger. If she can get over our relationship in twenty four hours, then so can I."

"I know you're hurting right now, but that's not the way to solve it," Kathleen told him, her voice soft, "trust me, I've done the revenge sex thing, and it never helps. It usually just makes it worse."

"I don't know what else there is to do," Booth told her, becoming frustrated with everything that was going on with him and his soon to be ex wife, "I can't just sit here and feel sorry for myself. I can't just sit here and drink until I black out," he paused, looking at the wedding band around his finger, "this is what she does to me. She's had a hold on me since we first met, and I'm so sick of being the guy who she can run to when she wants a friend, but then leave off to the side when she doesn't. She has been leading me on since day one, and this is what she does. She makes it impossible for me to let go and move on."

"You'll be able to," she promised, looking seriously into his eyes so he knew she wasn't just humoring him, "I was engaged a few years ago to a guy I had been dating for three years before that. I found out four months before our wedding that he had been sleeping with my best friend for almost a year," she saw his expression soften a bit when he heard her story, "I know what it feels like to hurt the way you are, Seeley. And I promise, even though it doesn't seem that way now, it will get better. If she let go of you simply because this other guy is young, and she wants to be some sort of cougar, then she doesn't deserve you, because I can tell that you really loved her."

Kathleen let out a small squeak of surprise when he cupped her cheek in his right hand, pulling her in for an unexpected kiss. Even though she had been trying to convince him that he didn't need to get with someone else to forget about his wife, she kissed him back, knowing that he needed the comfort at the moment. He reeked of booze, and tasted like it too, but it wasn't bothering her in the least. The fact that he was an exceptional kisser, and she hadn't been with a man in months, was enough to make up for that.

"Seeley," she pulled away after only a few seconds of his lips against hers.

"Shh," Booth silenced her, pressing a finger to her lips, "I need this tonight, Kathleen."

"No you don't."

"Yes...I do," he looked at her seriously, seeing that her eyes were closed in frustration, "please look at me," he waited until she opened her eyes to continue, "I need this tonight. All I'm asking for is tonight."

Kathleen took a deep breath, looking to the floor in thought. They were both silent for a few seconds before she finally answered.

"I can take you home," she told him, only offering him that much, "I can drive you home, since you're clearly too drunk to drive, and I can even stay with you for a while if you want," she paused when she saw that he wasn't looking very satisfied with her response, "or..." she tried again, "if you don't want to go back home, you can come to my place until you sober up a little, maybe we can even watch a movie, and then I'll drive you back home...but I'm not going to have sex with you."

"If I'm going to be completely honest, I'd rather have sex than watch a movie," he mumbled, the alcohol making it difficult to filter his thoughts, "a movie isn't going to help me forget. And I certainly don't want to 'sober up'. In fact, that's the last thing I want."

"But it's what you need," Kathleen told him, "getting drunk isn't going to solve your problems, it's just going to bury them. My mother was an alcoholic. I can't just sit here and watch someone use alcohol to escape, because that was exactly what she did."

Booth shuddered when she mentioned her mother's addiction, knowing all too well what it felt like to have one. In fact, he was surprised that this was the first time gambling had crossed his mind that day. With the horrible day he was having, he was surprised that he hadn't thought about joining an online poker game, or taking the slightly lengthy drive up to Atlantic City to shoot some craps.

"Was?" He asked, "I guess she's reformed?"

"No...she got drunk one night, got into a fight with my aunt, and got into the car," she told him, "killed herself and the two people in the other car."

Booth immediately sobered up a little when she told him this.

"I'm sorry," he said, pushing the empty shot glass that he thought about having refilled away from him, knowing that it would only upset her if he continued to drink, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was a long time ago," she told him, "I was seven when she died," she shook her head, turning her attention back to the subject at hand, "so, like I said, you can hang out with me for a while if you'd like, but I'm not going to be the girl you have sex with because you can't have _her_...Bones. I won't degrade myself like that."

Booth nodded understandingly.

"I get it," he told her, seeing things a little more clearly now, "it was wrong of me to ask that of you anyway. You've been nothing but supportive and kind. I'm not going to use you like that."

Kathleen smiled gratefully.

"So what do you say?" She asked, "Want to come to my place? We can rent God-awful movies on demand."

Booth cracked a smile for, what may have been, the first time that night.

"Alright," he stood up, taking his jacket off of the back of his chair, "we can do that."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Alexsmom<span>: You never have to apologize for not reading because you've been busy. When school starts again, I'll be pretty busy too, so I know the feeling. Thanks for letting me know that you're still around, and I know the angst is tough to read, because it's tough to write too (as you predicted). But I'm glad you're sticking around to see B&B happy again. =]**

**rayrayrayray: I'm so sorry about your parents, and I'm sorry if all of this is hitting close to home. My parents are divorced too, but they are still friends. I can't imagine what it would be like in your situation. So, again, I'm sorry if any of this is upsetting you. =[**

**CrayonClown: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I saw somewhere that you're pregnant? If that's the case, then congratulations =D and I'm sorry for messing around with your hormones like this. xD **

**bones35: I totally understand where you're coming from with the 'we read fanfic to experience what we want to see in the show', and trust me, it's the same reason I write it. I enjoy writing fluff, I really do, but sometimes I like to challenge myself with other genres, and, like you said, I think the fluff is better when you had to get through some bumps to get there. Anyway, thank you for all your kind words, now and in past reviews, and I'm glad you're sticking around, since you've been with me since early on.**

**Number 8: I think it's interesting that you like Ricky, and it definitely does make you memorable. xD It's interesting to see things from the point of view of someone who doesn't completely despise him like most people. **

**bonesmd007: Your apologies are unnecessary. =] Trust me, you didn't even come close to being too harsh. You don't need to apologize or be ashamed for anything you said. You never damper me, in fact, you usually do the opposite. =] **

**Robert Modean: I really love your insight, since it is always interesting and never just the typical 'put them back together'. You've made me laugh a few times, and I appreciate your enthusiasm with all the angst going on. You're one of the only ones who seems to be taking it well, even embracing it, and I really like that. **


	45. But It Will Pass With Time

**A/N: Hey guys. =] I want to thank all of you who have encouraged me and told me not to worry about the rude people. I don't know if you know how much such a simple thing like that can help to boost my writing confidence, especially after reading some of the mean-spirited things that people say. I never understood why people leave rude reviews, as opposed to just not reading if they don't like it, but...oh well. =]**

**Honestly, this isn't one of my favorite chapters, since there isn't too much going on, but I hope you enjoy anyway. =] A few of you mentioned Sully and Warehouse 13, and, since I too watched my _first_ episode of Warehouse 13 last night, I decided to give Sully a little shout out. It's actually a pretty good show, from what I saw, and Eddie McClintock is actually very likeable in the role. And let me just say, he looks _a lot_ better with a hair cut. ;] (he's not DB, but they can't all be xDD)**

**Ahem...anyway, I'm rambling again. xD So just ignore me.**

Chapter Forty-Five:

"But It Will Pass With Time"

Before he was even fully awake, Booth could feel his head pounding, wincing as he opened his eyes, only to find that he was not in his bedroom. He was in _a_ bedroom, in an extremely comfortable bed, in fact, but it wasn't his. Pushing the black and white paisley comforter, which smelled like a sweet perfume, off of his shoulders, he sat up with a wince, glancing around the unfamiliar room.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Kathleen said playfully, setting a cup of coffee on the night stand next to her bed.

"Hey," he said sleepily, rubbing the back of his neck, noticing that she had already showered and gotten dressed, her hair still damp and her make up freshly applied, "Kathleen, I feel like an idiot asking this...but did we...?"

"No," she laughed lightly, "we didn't. We were sitting on the couch, under a bunch of blankets with a huge bowl of popcorn, watching some horrendous movie, and you fell asleep."

"I remember watching the movie, and the blankets, and the popcorn...but not the falling asleep part," he told her, "how the hell did I get from the couch to the bed? And where did you sleep?"

"I slept on the couch, and I woke you up and showed you where my bedroom was...but you were probably too drunk to remember," she told him, pushing the coffee cup towards him, "this is for you, by the way. I promise I didn't poison it or anything."

Booth chuckled weakly.

"Thanks, but I think I'll just get myself a glass of water," he told her, standing up and wincing when the pain in his head intensified, "and, if you have any Advil, I'd appreciate you telling me where that is too."

"How about _I_ get the Advil and you get the water?" She laughed lightly.

"Yeah, that sounds good," he chuckled as well, leaving the bedroom with her so he could make his way to the kitchen and she could go to her medicine cabinet to get him some Advil.

When she met him in the kitchen, she dropped the two tablets into his hand, hearing him mumble a 'thank you' before he popped them into his mouth and chased them down with the room temperature water. After he finished the water and washed out the glass, he glanced at the watch that was still around his wrist.

"I'm late for work," he told her, "I don't even have enough time to go home and change. If anyone notices I'm wearing the same clothes that I was yesterday...they're going to grill me."

"That's what you're worried about right now?" Kathleen's laugh was genuine, and caused him to smile, "You're hung over and fell asleep at a stranger's house, but you're concerned that people are going to think you had a one night stand?"

"First of all, you're not a stranger...I've met you before. And secondly, it's not that I'm afraid they're going to think I had a one night stand, it's that none of them know that Bones and I aren't together anymore, so they're going to ask me all kinds of questions, and I'm going to have to tell them," he sighed, leaning against the counter, "it's really not my favorite topic of discussion, if that wasn't obvious."

Kathleen pressed her palm against his back comfortingly.

"I know," she assured him, "but you're going to have to tell them eventually."

"Yeah, and I have to tell my son, and my grandfather, and my boss, who's going to chew me out because he warned me not to get involved with someone I worked with in the first place," Booth turned to look at her again, "I don't know if I can go through with it. I'm ready to just beg her to let me pretend we're still together, at least to the three of them."

"Seeley-"

"Kathleen, thanks for helping me out last night and letting me vent to you, but you're not my therapist. I'm not just going to whine at you all day," he smoothed down the crumpled up fabric of his dress shirt, "I have to go to work anyway."

"Seeley, wait," she grasped his arm, waiting until he turned to face her again before she spoke, "you don't have to be ashamed to talk to me."

"I'm not," he told her, "I'm not. I just need to go to work and have a normal day."

Kathleen frowned, feeling slightly hurt that he didn't want to talk to her, but not letting it show as she let go of his arm and softened her tone.

"Alright," she said softly, "go ahead."

Knowing that he had hurt her feelings a bit, Booth turned to face her again, leaning in and kissing her cheek softly. Her skin was soft, and she didn't smell like Brennan...but she _wasn't_ Brennan. He had to remind himself of that a few times that morning.

"I'll call," he told her, remembering that they had exchanged phone numbers during the movie they were watching the night prior.

Kathleen nodded, blushing a bit when she felt his lips against her cheek, knowing that it was only a friendly kiss, but unable to help her body's reaction.

"Okay," she said quietly, allowing him to leave her apartment and go to work.

* * *

><p>"Booth! Booth!" Booth was ready to put his head through the wall when he heard Sully's frantic voice behind him, knowing that it was only the hangover that was making him feel like he was screaming.<p>

"What, Sully?" He tried his best to keep his cool when he turned to face him.

"I got the-woah. You look like you've been dragged through hell and back," Sully glanced at his attire, looking back at him curiously, "dude...are you taking the walk of shame?"

"No," Booth snapped, "I'm not. What did you want to tell me?"

"Crazy night with the wife?" Sully asked, giving him a playful nudge with his elbow, "don't be embarrassed. I've had those nights. You go out to dinner, realize that you want to get down, but don't want to wait until you get home, so you grab a cab, go to the nearest hotel, and-"

"That's not what happened. I just got a little drunk and crashed at a friend's apartment."

Sully looked at him skeptically before his eyes lit up, as if everything just came together.

"Are you having an affair?" He asked.

"No," Booth desperately wanted to get off of this subject before he wound up having to tell him about his split from his soon to be ex wife, "I'm not having an affair."

"So I'm supposed to believe that you just got drunk and 'crashed at a friend's apartment'? I'm not as stupid as you might think I am."

"Listen, _Peanut_," he addressed him by the nickname that he knew bothered him to no end, "I'm _not_ having an affair, and I _did_ just get drunk and sleep at a friend's apartment."

"I like Brennan, but I wouldn't rat you out to her, if that's why you don't want to say anything," he assured him, "it's hard sticking to one person. Sometimes we need a thrill, and if-"

"Bones and I aren't together anymore," Booth snapped at his co-worker, as he arrived at his office, with Sully still following close behind, "we broke up. We both agreed that it would be better for us and the baby if we weren't together anymore."

Sully needed to take a minute to process what he just heard, grabbing Booth's door when he went to close it in his face and go into his office.

"You serious?" He asked.

"I'm dead serious. And if you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it."

Booth huffed when Sully grabbed the door again before he could close it.

"Well it's obvious that you still love her," he told him.

"Of course I still love her," Booth said dryly, "we already established that I will probably never stop loving her. Soon enough, I won't be _in_ love with her anymore, but I can't imagine a day ever coming when I won't think about what we had."

"Well if you still love her, then why don't you guys get back together?"

"Oh thanks, Sully. Why didn't _I _think of that?" Booth said sarcastically, "Things aren't that simple, Peanut. And besides, she wants to be with Ricky now."

"Hernandez? The one who wears too much cologne?"

"I guess. I don't really sniff Hernandez very often."

"Dude, you really don't have to sniff him. He could walk by me from ten feet away and I still feel like I'm being suffocated."

"Well apparently the fact that he wears too much cologne doesn't bother my wife," he quickly corrected himself when the words left his lips, "my ex...my soon to be ex wife...Brennan. It doesn't bother Brennan. Or at least I'd imagine it doesn't, since she doesn't mind cuddling with him on her couch."

"Ouch," Sully winced when he heard his words, "it must have been rough seeing that. How the hell long have you been broken up for?"

"A whopping two days...and she's already moved on," Booth put his hand back on the door, "if you don't mind, I'd like to end this conversation here."

"You want to stop out for drinks after work?" Sully asked sympathetically.

"I have plans," he lied, going to push the door closed for a third time, before his colleague pushed it back open.

"With who?"

"Her name's Kathleen."

"Hey, looks like Brennan's not the only one moving on," he laughed lightly, seeming a bit more enthusiastic now, "is that who you slept with last night?"

"Sully, I'm going to attempt to close the door now, and this time you're going to let me."

When Sully finally took his hand off of the door, Booth went to close it again, before he heard a familiar voice from outside, sounding uncharacteristically small and meek.

"Wait, Sully, don't close the door," Brennan said, as he stepped back to allow her into her ex's doorway, "mind if I come in?"

Sully offered Booth a nod as a way of saying goodbye before he left, giving them their privacy as Booth nodded to his partner and Brennan stepped inside, closing the door behind her. He barely noticed the brown paper bag in her hand, since he was more focused on her eyes, and how she looked as if she hadn't been sleeping. His conclusion was drawn based on the dark circles under her eyes.

"Hey," she said, surprising Booth a little when she attempted to make small talk, holding up the bag, "I stopped for breakfast on my way to the lab and picked you up a donut," he thanked her when she tossed the bag onto his desk, crossing her arms awkwardly over her chest as he took the glazed donut out of the bag and took a bite, before placing it on a napkin, and sitting down, "I heard what Sully said...about you having a new girlfriend."

Booth nearly choked on the bite of donut that was in his mouth, shaking his head frantically as he swallowed.

"I don't have a girlfriend," he assured her, "Kathleen is not my girlfriend...not even by a long shot."

"But you slept with her," she reminded him.

"No, no, Bones I didn't sleep with her," he promised, "she's a friend of mine, that's all."

"But Sully said-"

"Why do you listen to Sully?" He asked, "Sully's an idiot," he paused, thinking about the statement, "well, he's not an idiot...but he acts like one sometimes. I must have told him five times that I didn't sleep with her, but once he gets something into his head..."

"Yeah," she agreed weakly, not exactly buying it, "I was going to ask if you wanted to grab dinner on the way home, but I heard you telling Sully that you had plans."

Booth laughed lightly.

"I don't really have plans," he told her, "I was just trying to get him to leave me alone."

"Booth, he's just trying to be a good friend," her tone was disapproving, "you should talk to him. He might be able to help."

"Bones, guys don't cry on each other's shoulders," he chuckled.

"I'm not saying you have to cry on his shoulder, I'm just saying that maybe going out and drinking with Sully would...I don't know...help," she tensed up a little bit when they broached the topic they were both trying to avoid...the elephant in the room, "I don't know about you, but I had difficulty sleeping last night, and not just because of Chris."

"I didn't...but that might be because I was almost too drunk to function," he chuckled bitterly, "and I figured Ricky did a good enough job putting you to sleep last night."

Brennan's eyes widened in surprise when he spoke the words so blatantly.

"What are you talking about, Booth?"

"You and Ricky," he said, as if it was obvious, "listen, Bones, we're not together anymore. It's none of my business who you date, or sleep with, or whatever you do with him."

"I don't do anything with him! Ricky and I are just friends," she paused, thinking back to how Ricky had asked her the day prior if she thought that Booth was suspicious of their hug, "yesterday in my office, we hugged. That's all. We hugged because I was upset...about you."

"About me?"

"Yes," she lowered her voice, taking a step closer to him when he stood up from where he had taken a seat behind his desk to eat his donut, "about you. About everything that's happening between us. I just needed a shoulder to cry on...because I missed you."

"You did?" He asked.

"I _do_," she took a long pause, "but it will pass with time."

"Yeah...with time. We'll get over it."

They barely noticed that they were leaning closer to each other until they were able to feel the heat radiating off of the other. Brennan's tongue darted out to wet her lips in a subconscious signal, and when he seemed as if he was about to lean in, there was a knock on the door, and it swung open before either of them could respond.

"Hey, Booth, I forgot to tell you what I actually came to you for earlier, so-" Sully's voice pulled them both from their trance, and he exchanged glances between the two of them, "am I interrupting something?"

"No," Brennan said, a little too quickly, completely freaked out by the kiss she had almost shared with her ex, "no. I have to go back to work anyway."

She could distantly hear Booth thank her for the donut as she made her way out of his office as quickly as she could. She had to wonder what would have happened if they kissed, but quickly pushed the thoughts from her mind. She needed to move on, and kissing him was definitely not the way to do that.


	46. What Are You Pondering In Here?

**A/N: Hooray for quick updates? xD This is actually one of those chapters that's fairly long, but took me like, no time to write. So hopefully it came out good. And for those of you telling me to put B&B back together...relax. xD They've only been broken up for like, four chapters, and patience brings good things...so be patient. **

**Just so you guys don't get confused, we're jumping forward in time a bit with this chapter too. **

**And, again, thanks to everyone who's been giving feedback and sticking with me through the angst. =]**

Chapter Forty-Six:

"What Are You Pondering In Here?"

Now that it had been almost a month since the break-up between Brennan and Booth, all of their friends and family knew about it. To both of their surprises, most of them took it a lot better than they were expecting them to. Parker's only concern was that he wasn't going to see Christian anymore, which Booth quickly cleared up for him, and while Angela didn't agree with their separation, she assured Brennan that it was her choice, and she could do what she wanted to do. It wasn't exactly the most supportive response, but it was better than she was expecting.

On this particular day, Brennan was sitting in her office, unable to believe that it had already been almost a month since she had been with Booth. Even though they had told each other that they would go back to the way things were, and that it wouldn't be awkward, that was something they couldn't help. As much as they tried to have a normal, friendly relationship, the awkwardness was still always just slightly present.

And she still missed him. She knew that a month was plenty of time to at least get back on her feet and start dating again, but she didn't have the desire to. The only male she had been interested in since she broke up with Booth was Christian, and she spend most of her time hanging out with him on the days that he wasn't with his father. He was becoming more alert now. He was able to smile back at people when they smiled at him, laugh when she would make faces at him, react, and slightly recognize, the familiar voices around him, and he was becoming much more vocal. When Christian was at Booth's and was unavailable, she'd go to Hodgins and Angela's to hang out with the two of them and Anderson, who was practically moved into their house at this point. Angela was trying to help, even suggesting that she go on a date with Sully, but Brennan kindly rejected the suggestion. Sully kind of had a thing with Perotta now, but even if he didn't, she wasn't looking to rekindle that flame. She wasn't looking to kindle any flame at all, in fact.

Sweets would say that she was reluctant to date again because she was still holding on to Booth, but she never put much stock into psychology anyway. She convinced herself that she wasn't looking to date because she was more focused on raising a good child than her love life, but, when she would say that to Angela, she would simply roll her eyes. Angela knew that her friend was in denial, but she was too stubborn to admit it.

"Sweetie," Angela's sing-songy voice pulled Brennan away from her thoughts when she entered the room, "what are you pondering in here?"

Brennan looked at her hands, taking a deep breath.

"Ange, I missed my period," she told her bluntly.

Angela raised a curious eyebrow and sat on her friend's couch.

"When were you supposed to get it?" She asked.

"Two days ago," Brennan informed her.

"Well it could just be a couple days late. I'd be more concerned if you missed it by a week or so," Angela looked at her seriously, "do you think you could be pregnant or something? Because it's probably not something you should be concerned about, considering you're not even sleeping with anyone at the moment."

"Well Booth and I made lo-...slept together...a little over three weeks ago, the night we decided to call it off," she reminded her friend, "I don't think I'm pregnant, but I think it's a possibility. I just don't want to rule anything out yet."

Angela raised an eyebrow skeptically, something clicking in her mind.

"Do you want to be pregnant?" She asked.

"No!" Brennan said defensively, "Of course not! Why would I want to be pregnant when I have a child who's only three and a half months old at home?"

"Because it would be your way of holding on to what you had with Booth," Angela gave it to her straight, not trying to sugar coat it in the slightest, "if you were carrying Booth's child, it would be that last piece of your relationship that you could hold on to for nine months. Plus the fact that, if you were pregnant, you know he'd want to get back together."

"You're making me sound like some sort of creepy stalker," Brennan said flatly, "I don't need a 'piece of Booth' to hold on to. I already have a child with him. And, not to mention, I don't want to get back with him."

"Okay, Brennan. Whatever you say."

"Well don't say it so condescendingly, Ange. Booth and I are getting along better now that we aren't romantically involved, which is why we separated in the first place. If you ask me, things are going as they should right now. It was very clear, towards the end of our relationship, that Booth and I were better just being friends. The two of us have clashing personalities. It's a simple as that."

"But the sex was good," Angela reminded her.

"Yes, the sex was exceptional," she told her, her voice indicating that, that particular topic embarrassed her a bit, "but good sex can not be the base of a relationship."

"Why not?" Angela asked, "That's how it all started with Hodgins and I."

"Your relationship with Hodgins has evolved. Booth and I were compatible in bed, but that doesn't make up for the fact that, towards the end, it felt like we were fighting more than we were getting along."

"But you guys probably had some hot make-up sex, right?"

Brennan simply huffed and rolled her eyes, seeing that Angela was not feeling very cooperative that day.

"If you couldn't tell," Angela started, "I haven't had much of a sex life lately either. It's been hard to find time since Anderson came to live with us. I mean, I know he goes to sleep early, but the guest bedroom is connected to our room, and he's old enough to know that something's going on if he hears."

Brennan immediately thought back to the time when she told Booth that they couldn't make love in Angela's guest bed after he was blown up because, as Angela mentioned, the guest room and her bedroom were connected.

"I'm sure you won't wake him up, Ange," Brennan told her, "your bed isn't near the wall that connects the rooms. And, besides, Anderson is a very heavy sleeper. Booth carried him through the lab, into my office, and sat down with him...and he still didn't wake up."

Angela mustered up a sympathetic smile when Brennan mentioned her ex.

"You miss him?" She asked, softening her tone a bit.

Brennan looked at the floor, her smile fading.

"Yeah," she told her, her voice just as soft, "sometimes I do. I mean...he's not dead, and I can see him whenever I want to, but...I don't know. I miss the Booth who I was romantically involved with. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I just...expect him to be there."

"Sweetie, I don't think you'll ever be over him," Angela told her honestly, "people always say you never get over your first love. And, while Booth wasn't the first person you ever dated, he was the first person you ever loved," Angela glanced down at her friend's hands, "and the fact that you're still wearing your wedding ring probably isn't helping with the whole 'moving on' process."

"It's just a ring, Angela," Brennan reminded her, "I'm not leaving it on as any sort of symbol. I just forgot that it was there."

Angela was going to respond, until the door opened, and she turned to look at the person in the doorway.

"Booth, I don't know how many times I have to remind you to knock," Brennan chastised before he got a chance to even say hello.

When Angela looked at her best friend's partner, she realized that he was still wearing his wedding ring as well, and she had to smirk a little. They were so not over each other. Not even a little. In fact, they were still completely in love with one another.

"Sorry, sorry," he held up his hands in a surrender, "do you want me to go back outside and try again?"

"Well that would be pointless now, considering you already barged in uninvited," she shook her head when she realized that they were getting off task, "what do you need?"

"I don't need anything, I was just coming to ask if I could take Christian tonight..." his voice trailed off when he saw the small smirk that Angela was still wearing, "Ange, clue me in as to why you're smiling like the cat that ate the canary."

"No reason," Angela said cutely, not bothering to fill him in on what she now knew, about how they were not anywhere near being over each other, "I'll just leave you two alone."

Once Angela left, Booth looked back to Brennan, his expression curious, but not even asking what her best friend was acting so strangely about.

"Yeah, so...can I take Chris tonight?" He asked once again.

"Would it be okay if you could take him tomorrow instead?" She asked, afraid that she was going to make him feel like she was keeping the baby away from him, "It's just...Ricky and I are going to the diner after work, and I wanted to take Chris with me. I feel like having the baby there would remind Ricky that it's not a date," she paused when her partner laughed, "what? Why is that funny?"

"Because, you lead that poor sucker on," he chuckled, "but it's fine. I'll just take him tomorrow. Not a big deal."

"Thank you for understanding," she quickly spoke again after she thanked him, "and I don't lead Ricky on. He knows that our relationship is purely platonic. He knows I don't have romantic feelings for him, and he understands that."

"If you say so," Booth chuckled, "I'm just going to fill you in on this, Bones. Even if he says he understands that you're strictly friends, he doesn't want to be. He'll subtly try to change your mind...and who knows. Maybe he'll succeed."

"He won't," Brennan assured him, "Ricky is pleasing to look at, but I don't view him in that way. I've never been able to imagine having a physical relationship with him."

"Okay, that's my cue to leave," he knew that once the topic of physical relationships with other men came up, it was time to go, "I'll see you later...or tomorrow. Whichever."

"Alright, see you then," she smiled when he turned to leave.

Before he left though, he looked over his shoulder back at her.

"And about Ricky...stop leading the poor bastard on. It's just cruel," he chuckled.

Brennan wanted to give him a disapproving look, but couldn't help the smile and the small laugh that escaped her lips.

"Goodbye, Booth," she laughed lightly, as he threw her another charming smile over his shoulder and left her office.

* * *

><p>"You didn't have to pay for dinner," Brennan told Ricky, as they left the diner and began to walk back to their cars, "I would have split the bill with you."<p>

"I have money to pay for a cheap dinner at the diner," Ricky chuckled, seeing her smiling as well from the corner of his eye, "I think I can splurge every now and then."

"Don't be a wise ass," she laughed, "I just feel uncomfortable making you pay for my food, that's all."

"It's not a big deal. You had a soup and a salad, it wasn't all that expensive," he paused, changing the subject after a few seconds of silence, "and that waitress...she wasn't exactly the brightest bulb on the strand, now was she? She gave Christian a cookie when he doesn't even have teeth yet."

"Yes, she definitely didn't think that one through," Brennan laughed, "I would say she probably just didn't know, but he doesn't even look old enough to have teeth yet."

"I agree, but maybe that's just because I know him," he shrugged, changing the subject once again, "you want to come over for coffee or something?" He asked.

_Coffee_. Was that some kind of a euphemism for sex?

"I probably should get Christian home," she declined the offer politely.

"Oh, come on," Ricky chuckled, "it's only seven thirty," he leaned down a bit so he could look at the baby from where Brennan was carrying him in his car seat, "mommy's being a buzz kill, isn't she? You're a big guy. You can stay up for a while, right?"

Christian looked at him with interested eyes when he spoke to him, giggling cutely.

"Christian agrees with me," Ricky concluded, standing back up straight, "actually, he thinks that you _should_ come over for coffee."

"He doesn't think anything," she laughed lightly, "but if it will satisfy you, I'll come over for one cup. And then I have to go."

"Alrightie then," he chuckled, as they reached their cars, "I'll see you then."

* * *

><p>Brennan was relieved, once she was at Ricky's apartment for a few minutes, that coffee meant coffee, and nothing else. It was the first time she'd ever been in his apartment, and it was much cleaner and more organized than she was expecting. He also had a dog, which was something she didn't know; a Bull Dog named Tucker. But he was so old that he greeted them when they came in the door, and then slept on the floor for the rest of the time she was there.<p>

"Tucker's not going to bother the baby," he told her, setting her coffee on the little coffee table in front of the couch before going back into the kitchen to get his, "he barely has enough energy to drag his fat ass around the apartment anymore."

Brennan laughed, reaching down to pet the dog that was laying at her feet.

"He seems sweet though," she told him, picking up her coffee and taking a sip when she was finished stroking the dog's head.

When she realized that the baby was kicking his feet, as if he wanted to get out of the car seat that was set on the couch next to her, she set her coffee down and lifted him up, setting him in her lap and allowing him to grasp at her shirt.

"Is the coffee no good?" He asked, "Do you like it stronger? Weaker?"

"No, the coffee's fine," she laughed lightly, "Christian's just getting a little fussy, and it's extremely dangerous to drink hot coffee while holding an infant, so I'll just have to drink it when he calms down."

"I know you can't stay for too long, so do you want me to hold him while you drink your coffee?" Ricky offered.

"That would be great," she was grateful that he was so willing to help out with the baby, as she handed him over, picking her coffee back up once they were settled in.

She noticed how Ricky was holding the baby as if he was afraid that he was going to break him, rocking him awkwardly back an forth as he grabbed the sleeve of his dress shirt. It was obvious that he hadn't spent too much time around babies in the past.

"You won't hurt him," she assured him, "he's much more durable than he looks. I mean...still be careful, but you don't have to worry."

"Oh, thanks for reminding me to still be careful, Bren. I was actually planning on dropping him to see what would happen," he said, with playful sarcasm.

"You know, Hernandez, you are developing a sarcastic attitude and I'm not quite sure if I like it or-"

She was cut off when the baby began to cry, causing Ricky to look down at him with slightly alarmed eyes, rocking him a little more and speaking softly to him.

"Shh, it's alright, little buddy," he spoke softly to the baby when he cried, looking over at Brennan, "I don't think he likes me."

"I'm sure he doesn't dislike you," she told him, "he's not really comfortable with strangers, and, frankly, he's not particularly fond of men who aren't his father. He cries when Hodgins picks him up too."

"That's probably because he spends most of his time with-"

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Brennan frantically put her cup down and scooped Christian up when he spit-up on her friend's black button down.

"No, no, it's my fault, I was probably making him queasy by rocking him like that," Ricky assured her, standing up so he could go change his shirt, "I kind of wanted to get out of this shirt and just put on a t-shirt anyway."

Only a few seconds after he disappeared down the hallway, Brennan placed Christian back in his car seat and followed the path that Ricky had just taken to his bedroom, stopping in front of the open door as he unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it into the hamper in his room.

"Do you want me to wash your shirt for you?" She asked, seeing him jump when he heard her voice, not expecting her to just sneak up on him while he was changing.

"No, you don't have to wash the shirt," he laughed, digging out a grey t-shirt, "I have to get it dry cleaned this weekend anyway."

When he turned to the side and pulled the shirt over his head, Brennan caught a glimpse of something on his bicep in the dim light of his bedroom.

"I didn't know you had a tattoo," she told him, thoroughly surprised to find out that little fact about him.

It was a fairly large tattoo, and she was shocked as to how she never noticed it before. But, then again, she had never seen him shirtless before, or even in short sleeves for that matter. She had only really seen him in dress shirts.

"Yeah," he said, the playful tone in his voice dying down a bit, as he left the bedroom to meet her in the hallway, pushing up the sleeve of his shirt to show it to her.

It was a cross, like a catholic cross, and underneath it, in small letters, it read:

"Thomas Andrew Hernandez  
>1981-1998<br>'Siempre Joven'"

Quickly doing the math in her head, Brennan knew that, if he was still alive, he would be thirty years old, like Ricky.

"My twin brother," Ricky explained, before she could ask.

"You have a twin?" She asked, completely taken by surprise.

"I had a twin," he clarified, "he died when we were seventeen. He had just gotten his motorcycle licence, he was riding around the neighborhood, and got into an accident."

Brennan looked at him sympathetically before turning her attention back to the tattoo.

"'Siempre Joven'," she read aloud.

"It means 'forever young'."

"I know what it means," Brennan forced a small laugh, trying to brighten the mood a little, "I'm sorry that happened to you. It must have been hard."

"It was," he told her, smiling again, "but it's alright. He's in a better place now."

Brennan mentally bit her tongue to keep from saying anything about her views on religion, glancing at her watch before looking back up at him.

"I should get going," she said, "Chris is fussy, and he's probably tired."

When he nodded, she could tell that he was wondering whether or not she was telling the truth, or if she just wanted to get out of there. So, in order to reassure him, she leaned up and placed a feather light peck on his lips. The friendly kind, like the way she would kiss a family member, but enough to make mouth fall open a bit in surprise and cause his cheeks to heat up. It was then that she realized that maybe Booth was right. Maybe she was leading him on a little.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" She said, as she picked up Christian in his car seat.

Ricky could only manage a nod as she left, as if nothing had happened, shutting the door tightly behind her.


	47. I'm In No Rush

**A/N: Hey, everyone. I'm about to be hiding from you guys, because you'll probably be really ticked off at me after this chapter. But hopefully you guys can read between the text and see that it's not as bad as it may seem right now. And next chapter I promise some quality B&B time, so you can be happy about that. =]**

Chapter Forty-Seven:

"I'm In No Rush"

It was the next night, and Brennan was grateful that Booth took Christian for the night, since she needed a break. She needed to just wind down, have a glass of wine, and read in silence, without having to worry about when Christian needed to be fed.

She huffed when someone rang the doorbell, interrupting her from her book. With a dramatic eye-roll, she marked her page and set it on the arm of the couch before standing up and going to answer the door. She was surprised to see Ricky when she opened the door, and was slightly embarrassed that he decided to show up when she was lounging around in sweat pants and a tank top having a night of relaxation, with her hair thrown into a ponytail.

"Hey," she greeted him kindly, "I...wasn't expecting you."

He looked a little jumpy, like he was either nervous or had a lot of pent up energy, and she couldn't help the look of confusion that washed over her face when he spoke again.

"Are you alone?" He asked.

"Yes," she said, skeptically, "why? Are you in some sort of trouble?"

"No," he shook his head, "I just...I just need to kiss you."

Before she had time to even process the words, his lips were on hers, wet and demanding as he nudged her through the doorway and pushed the door closed behind him. When she was able to feel his tongue seek entry into her mouth, she roughly pulled away, wiping her lips with the back of her hand as she stumbled slightly backwards.

"Ricky!" Her tone was half shocked and half scolding, "I-"

"I know, I know you say our relationship is platonic, and that you don't think of me that way...and I get that," he cut her off before she could give the speech he knew she was about to, "but you and Booth have been separated for a while, and, as far as I know, you're not seeing anyone right now...so a chance is all I'm looking for. You're the one who kissed me last night anyway," he reminded her.

"That was a friendly kiss, it didn't mean anything," she told him.

"Let me show you that we can be compatible if we just try," he tried, not even responding to her last comment, "because I feel like the only reason you won't give it a shot is because of Booth."

"Booth has nothing to do with it," she told him, "like you said, we've been separated for almost a month now. And he said that it was my choice who I see now, and that he doesn't care who I date. Booth is my good friend, and my ex, but he has no influence over my love life now."

"Do you still love him?" Ricky asked, "Because if the fact that you're still in love with him is what's stopping you from giving us a chance to be more than friends, then I can understand that, to some degree."

"No...I mean...yes," she shook her head, "I do still love Booth, but I'm trying to move on from him. I'm not shutting you out because of my feelings for Booth, Ricky. I just don't have romantic feelings for you. I don't believe we would be compatible in a non-platonic matter."

"So you're completely closed off to the idea?" He asked, seeming slightly disappointed and slightly annoyed, "You're just going to say that we aren't compatible and not even try? Who knows, we could turn out to be really compatible. I mean...nobody would have thought you and Booth would have been compatible."

"Yeah, and look where Booth and I ended up," Brennan snapped, and she was fairly certain it was the first time she had ever raised her voice at Ricky, "I'm sorry for raising my voice...it's just, that's still a sensitive topic. And I'm sorry if you find it offensive that I don't want to pursue a relationship with you, but I am just getting the feeling that maybe I shouldn't be in a relationship at all. I'm not good at being in a relationship. Sure, Booth drove me insane with his trust issues, but he only had them because of _my_ issues. If I wasn't terrible at it, he wouldn't have even had those trust issues."

"Bren," Ricky sighed, feeling horrible when a few tears ran down her cheeks, "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"I'm not crying because of you," she still had the slightest hint of an attitude behind her voice when she spoke, just wanting him to leave her alone at the moment, "everybody loves Booth's new girlfriend. She goes out drinking with him and Sully and Perotta. She fits in with him and his friends the way I never could."

"Booth has a girlfriend?"

"He swears that they're not anything, but he's with her all the time."

"You hang out with me all the time," Ricky reminded her, "and we aren't anything," he chuckled lightly, "well I'm trying to be something, and you're rejecting me, but, alas, we're still nothing but good old pals."

Brennan knew that he was trying to make her feel guilty for not wanting to give their relationship a chance, and she couldn't help but to be slightly angry that he kept using Booth as an example of why she should get with him.

"Ricky," she sighed, "first of all, if we do try this, I don't want to compare it to my relationship with Booth. My relationship with Booth is...it's just...off limits, okay?"

"Is that because you think our relationship won't be as good or successful as you and Booth's?" He asked.

"No," she lied, "no. I'm just still a little upset over it, which Angela says is completely normal, so I still don't really like to talk about it. And if I'm going to try to have a relationship with you, I'm going to be trying to move on. Discussing my marriage to Booth, and comparing our relationship to my marriage to Booth won't be helping me move on, it will just be making it worse," she paused, waiting until he nodded understandingly before she continued, "and secondly, I'm going to want to take things slow."

"Meaning..."

"Meaning I don't want to have sex yet," she told him bluntly, "I want to go on a few dates, develop our non-platonic relationship a bit, and then, if things are going well, we can discuss becoming physically intimate."

"Okay," he agreed easily, "we'll take it as slow as you want to take it. I'm in no rush."

"I'm glad you're being so understanding," she smiled weakly, leaning up to kiss his cheek softly, "but, if you don't mind, I'd kind of like to be alone tonight. Booth has Christian, and I kind of just need a night to myself."

"Oh, yeah, of course. If I knew you were taking the night off I wouldn't have come over and bothered you," he chuckled, "but tomorrow...what do you say about going on our first date?"

"I say that I would like that," she told him, smiling at him when he did the same.

"Great," Ricky chuckled, "I'll pick you up from work tomorrow at seven thirty?"

"Sounds okay by me," she was a little surprised when he pecked her lips softly before turning to leave her apartment.

"See you tomorrow, Bren," he said before he left, shutting the door and leaving her alone to process everything that just happened.

* * *

><p>"Um..." Kathleen stalled as she tried to think of names, laying on the couch at Booth's apartment with him, her back against his chest and a throw blanket draped over her lap, as the Phillies game played in the background, "Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard."<p>

"Pearl Jam," Booth answered, without having to put much thought into it, "how about you actually challenge me next time."

"Shut up," Kathleen laughed, elbowing him playfully in the ribs.

Booth laughed before he started.

"Alright, ready? 'Losing My Religion', 'Orange Crush', 'The One I Love'."

"That would be REM," Kathleen said proudly, turning to look at him, as she mocked his words in a playful deep voice, "how about you actually challenge me next time."

"You know, you have quite an attitude on you," he chuckled, "why Sully and Perotta like you is beyond me."

"You like me," she reminded him, "and so do your friends, because obviously they have good taste."

"Oh, obviously," he said, with playful sarcasm in his voice.

Kathleen laughed and shook her head, turning her attention to the game, which was still at the same score from the last time she looked, before looking back to Booth.

"You know, you're a lot more playful when you're not drunk and crying," she told him.

"Hey, I didn't cry," he reminded her.

"You might as well ha-"

In order to stop her from finishing the sentence, he kissed her, which was, what he found out, the easiest way to get her to stop talking. Kathleen was sarcastic and opinionated, but he couldn't help but to be intrigued by her. They could have healthy debates, play pop culture games the way they were doing earlier, and the fact that she was a Phillies fan didn't hurt either.

Kathleen turned herself around without breaking the kiss so she was facing him, laughing lightly when their kiss deepened a bit. Even though she liked kissing him, she was beginning to grow confused with what they actually were to one another. They were with each other a lot, they liked to go out together, and they'd made out a few times, but she still felt as if it was casual between them. They never went any further than just some heavy kissing, and he was being vague about whether he wanted to take it to the next level or not. So, instead of asking, since she assumed that would just be awkward for both of them, she trailed her hand carefully down his torso, slipping it gingerly up the fabric of his t-shirt.

"Mm," he murmured with a small chuckle, breaking the kiss and, ultimately, answering her question about taking it to the next level, "what are you doing, Kat?"

"Foolin' around," she answered playfully, taking her hand out of his shirt to trace a line up and down his torso with her index finger.

"Why?" He questioned playfully, grasping her finger gently to stop the constant motion.

"Because I like you," she chuckled, as if that was obvious, "I think you're handsome, and I like spending time with you."

"So 'I think you're handsome and I like spending time with you' translates to 'I want to have sex with you'?"

"Roughly," she joked, laughing when he did, "seriously though, Seeley...what's going on with us? What are we?"

"Friends?" Booth tried, seeing the disapproving look that Kathleen was giving him.

"Friends don't make out in the back of a taxi cab," she reminded him, with a playful push to his shoulder, "so we're obviously not 'friends'...but I don't think we're really much more than that either."

"We're friends who...occasionally lip-lock a little," he smiled.

"Would you ever consider, you know, doing more than just lip-locking?"

"Maybe...eventually," he told her honestly, "but my wife and I only broke up a month ago, and I'm just not sure if I'm ready for that kind of relationship again right now."

"No, no, I totally understand," she assured him, "I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you to get into bed with me, because I'm definitely not."

"No, of course, no pressure at all," he assured her, feeling that this conversation was getting just a little awkward.

He knew she was feeling the same way when she turned back around and climbed off of the couch, smoothing her clothes out and gathering her bag that was on the floor under her.

"You can stay here tonight if you want," he offered, "I have a queen sized bed."

"I have work in the morning," she told him, as he stood up from the couch as well, "and you have the baby tonight, so you have enough to deal with without me being here."

"I think you're just making up excuses," he chuckled, seeing her roll her eyes playfully and shake her head, "you want me to walk you out?"

"Yeah," she said, with a smile, "that would be great."


	48. It's You I'm Worried About

**A/N: So I wasn't planning on writing today, since I still have like five episodes of Warehouse 13 to watch on Hulu (yes, I totally love it now, and I proudly declare myself a closeted science fiction nerd xD), _but_ I decided to write instead. It's supposed to rain tomorrow (like it has been for like, the past week here), so if it does, and I can't lay out in the pool, I'll hole up under my blankets and watch a few episodes then. xD**

**Anywho, I stayed up late and worked my tail off to get this one out to you guys tonight. Hopefully you all like it, since, honestly, it was pretty fun to write. **

Chapter Forty-Eight:

"It's You I'm Worried About"

"I can't believe you've never seen The Godfather," Booth shook his head in disappointment as he ate one of his fries.

"I can't believe you can't believe it," Brennan shrugged, "as you know, I'm not necessarily up to date on my pop culture knowledge."

"Touche, Bones," he said, pushing his plate towards her to offer her some fries, "even though I'm surprised that it wasn't one of the movies I made you watch when we were together."

"I didn't like most of the movies you made me watch when we were together," she laughed softly, "there were a few that I did enjoy though."

"But none of them beat The Mummy, right?"

"Oh, of course not. It's been my favorite movie since I was a kid."

"I know," he assured her, with a charming smile.

"I know you know," she smiled back, breaking their gaze and taking a fry off of his plate, changing the subject, since she felt as if discussing how he knew basically everything about her was just a little too intimate, "so...I'm supposed to be going on a date with Ricky tonight," she told him, dipping the fry in some ketchup before she ate it, "but I'm thinking about telling him that I don't feel well so I can cancel."

Booth was surprised by what she was telling him.

"Why would you do that?" He asked, "Go out and have fun with Ricky. I'll take Chris again, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, I'm not worried about Christian," she told him, "I know you would take him. That's not the issue. I just don't really want to go out tonight."

"Any particular reason why?" Booth asked, "You think you should talk to Sweets or something?"

"No, no, there's nothing wrong with me," she laughed lightly, "I don't know why I don't want to go out with Ricky tonight. It's just not appealing to me right now," she took a bite of her salad, with a shrug of her shoulders, "to be honest, Booth, I really don't know why I agreed to it in the first place. I don't want to go on a date with Ricky, but I felt so bad saying no."

"Oh," he laughed, dragging the word out.

"What?" Brennan asked, picking up on the tone in his voice, "Why are you saying it like that?"

"Because, Bones, you've been played," he chuckled, "you know, I thought you were the one playing him, but it turns out it's the other way around. I never had you pegged as someone who would be easily manipulated by a puppy dog face and some sad eyes."

"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything," she grew slightly annoyed when he accused her of being played, "I should have known you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, come on, I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings...and I do understand," he reached across the table to touch her arm, "you're a good person, Bones, that's all. The only reason he was able to convince you to go on a date with him when you didn't want to was because you're too nice to hurt his feelings. He knows that, and he took advantage," he paused, taking his hand off of her arm when he realized that she glanced down at it awkwardly, "he shouldn't have done that. He used the fact that you didn't want to upset him against you, and he shouldn't have."

"It's not a big deal," she said softly, focusing her gaze on the plate in front of her, "I just don't know what we'll even talk about. I haven't been on a date since you...and conversation with you is easy. I feel like it won't be with Ricky. I feel like it will be awkward."

"Just talk about what you usually talk about with him," Booth shrugged, "trust me, I don't think he's judging you. He's probably just happy that you're going to be on a date at all."

Brennan sighed when she realized that she was having a whole conversation about dating with her ex, knowing that it may have been a sensitive topic for him.

"Booth, I'm so sorry," she said honestly, "I know you probably don't want to talk about my date with Ricky."

"No, don't be silly," he brushed it off casually, "I'm happy for you. You're getting back out there...playing the field. And that's what I want you to be doing. I'm not offended that you're trying your luck with other people. We broke up a month ago."

"Yeah," Brennan agreed half-heartedly, "I guess."

She still couldn't believe that it had only been a month since they broke up. It felt like so much longer to her. A month, in the grand scheme of things, was not a long period of time, but to her it felt like an eternity. There had been plenty of times in the past that she had gone much more than a month without any kind of romantic interaction, but after being with Booth for a year, it didn't seem easy anymore. Honestly, she missed having someone to just do the simple things with. It felt like now she was doing a lot of those simple things alone.

"So how about you?" She asked, pulling herself away from her own thoughts, "Have you been playing the field at all? Or are you monogamous with this Katherine woman?"

"First of all, it's Kathleen," he had to chuckle at how both women got the other's name wrong on a regular basis, like how Kathleen always called Brennan 'Tempest', "and second of all, I'm not monogamous with anyone. I haven't even slept with anyone since..."

"Me?" Brennan asked.

Booth chuckled, seeming a little uncomfortable now.

"Well you don't have to sound so surprised."

"I'm not surprised," she laughed, "well...I am a _little_ surprised. I just assumed you would have found someone to get a release with by now."

"What? No...no," he assured her, a little shocked that she thought he would move on and start sleeping with someone else so quickly, "I mean, Kathleen has mentioned going...there. But I'm still trying to sort things out. I feel like sleeping with her would just complicate things right now. You know what I mean?"

"Yes, I know exactly what you mean," she assured him, "I told Ricky almost the same thing. I said I would go on a few dates with him, but I don't want sex to be part of the metaphoric equation at this moment."

"Hold on...you and Ricky haven't even been on a date yet and he's already trying to get you into bed?" Booth asked.

"No, Booth. Don't get all protective of me. I can handle it," she told him, "he didn't suggest that we get into bed yet, I just wanted to make it clear that it wasn't happening anytime soon, just so he didn't get the wrong message."

"If he tries anything, just tell me, alright? I'll set him straight."

"Stop being so protective," she scolded him, "maybe by the time he tries anything I'll be ready to enter a physical relationship with him."

Booth had to laugh, shaking his head.

"You won't," he assured her, "you don't even want to go on a date with the guy. Are you really planning on sex being a factor anytime in the near future?" He chuckled when Brennan looked out the window in irritation, "Don't get all pouty, I just call 'em as I see 'em."

Brennan opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get any sound out, her partner's phone was ringing, and she closed her mouth as he flipped it open and answered. He talked to the person on the other end for a minute before saying they would be there soon and hanging up, turning his attention back to Brennan.

"We gotta go," he told her, "one of the member's of Adelina's gang was just caught dealing drugs, and they want us to talk to the guy."

* * *

><p>Brennan was sitting silently in the passenger's side of her car as they drove down the empty road, since, because they took her car to lunch, they had to take her car to talk to the gang member, but Booth still insisted on driving. Her arms were crossed across her chest as she stared blankly out the window, her face expressionless. After a few minutes of silence, Booth finally spoke.<p>

"So are you going to be mad at me for the rest of the day?" He asked.

"It's quite possible," she answered flatly.

Booth huffed, his grip on the steering wheel tightening just a little bit.

"You know what that was in there, Bones? It was called _acting_," he told her, "I had to fake bonding with him. I know he doesn't respect women, so I had to pretend I didn't either. And, by the way, no one asked you to listen to my interrogation."

"Acting is not the word I would use," she told him, "I understand you have to fake bond, but when you said, 'that's why I kicked my wife out on her sorry ass', it felt real."

"You really think I would ever speak to or about you like that?" He asked, "We had a mutual break up. I didn't 'kick you out'. If you thought I was being serious, then I'm a better actor than I thought."

"Whatever, Booth," she snapped, "all I'm saying is that it felt more like you were sharing your true feelings about me and our relationship in there rather than just pretending."

"You're unbelievable," he muttered, "you've gone off the deep end, Temperance. If you thought I was actually sharing my feelings about our relationship by saying 'the sex was good, and what else is really important?' then you've completely lost your mind."

"Do me a favor and just stop talking," she told him, never turning her head to look at him, "just don't speak to me right now."

Booth simply did as she asked and stayed quiet, focusing on the road rather than the extremely angry woman next to him. He could still see her out of the corner of his eye, and he could tell that, as time passed, she was growing calmer. When she finally seemed to have calmed down most of the way, he spoke again, in a soft voice.

"Bones-"

Before he had time to verbalize his thoughts, he was cut off by the sound of screeching tires, and the only thing he remembered was the shriek of his partner as something made impact with the car where the backseat was on the passenger's side, sending Brennan's small car skidding off the road and into a close by light pole; one of the thin metal ones. She was rattled by the crash, and by the time Brennan opened her eyes, the person who had hit them was gone, but she would bet money on it that it had something to do with the case they were working on. No way someone just came and rammed their car on an empty street for no reason at all.

She knew the car would be dented on the driver's side door, since that was where they had hit the light pole, and she was slightly horrified that her window had shattered, but she was more concerned about her partner's health at the moment than her car, as she unbuckled her seat belt with a groan.

"Are you alright?" She asked, grateful that she had put her seatbelt on that day as she rubbed her aching collarbone, "Booth?" She asked when she didn't receive a response, "Are you okay?"

She turned to him, her heart speeding up a bit when there was still no answer, and she saw that his eyes were closed and there were a few cuts on his face from the broken glass.

"Booth?" She shook his shoulder, trying to remind herself that he probably was just knocked out from the impact when his head snapped back against the seat, but unable to rationalize herself into not panicking at the moment, "Booth," she shook his shoulder again, slightly more desperate now, "Booth, come on. You're alright."

She shook his shoulder more vigorously when he didn't budge, checking to make sure his breathing was normal, breathing a sigh of relief when it was, as she went back to shaking him gently but determinedly.

"I'm going to call the cops, but you have to wake up before they get here," she tried to reason with her unconscious partner, "because, if you're not, they're going to want to take you to the hospital, and I know you hate the hospital," she dabbed at a tear that escaped her eyes, her voice crackling a bit, "Booth, you have to wake up, baby...okay?" She didn't even realize the that the affectionate term slipped out, since things were just flying out of her mouth at this point, "you're going to be fine, Booth, I promise. The accident wasn't that bad...and I know you don't want to go to the hospital, because you'd rather be with Chris, right? He loves you...I love you...so you have to wake up now...okay, baby? You have to."

She brushed a trembling hand through his hair when he shifted with a small groan, his eyes opening slightly to look at her.

"Bones," he murmured, his voice low, "you okay?"

"I'm fine," she had to laugh in relief to keep from crying when he regained consciousness, "it's you I'm worried about."

"Don't worry about me," he told her, unbuckling his seatbelt and brushing some broken glass carefully off of his lap, "babe, the glass got you right here," forgetting that they weren't a couple for a minute when he called her 'babe', he touched a spot on her collarbone; the one that was bothering her before, "you're bleeding."

"So are you," she wiped a bit of blood off of his cheek, relieved that the few minor cuts were the only things wrong with either of them, "I'm going to call the cops now."

* * *

><p>After the EMT at the scene of the crash checked both of them and cleared them to go, they decided to stop back at Brennan's apartment, since they didn't want to bother Portia back at Booth's, to clean themselves up. They went into her bedroom together, since Booth knew he still had some clothes there, even though they had been laying there dormant for over a year. But still, they were better than going back to work in the clothes he was in a car crash in.<p>

"You don't care if I shower here, do you?" He asked, even though he had already removed his tie and was already unbuttoning his shirt before he got an answer.

"I was going to shower, but it's fine," she assured him, "I'll just go in after you."

"Well we're kind of on a time limit here, Bones...we don't know how far the guy who hit us has gotten already, and if we wait too much longer, we won't be able to track him at all," he only paused to think for a second before he spoke again, "just jump in with me."

"That would be highly inappropriate," she told him.

"I'm not asking you to rub me down here, I'm just saying get into the shower with me," he shrugged, as if all of this was completely normal, as he shed his dress shirt and started on his belt buckle, "incase you forgot, I've seen you naked before. It won't be anything earth-shattering if we get into the same shower."

"I just don't feel like two people who are broken up should be sharing a shower," she responded.

Booth huffed as he unbuttoned his pants.

"If it'll make you feel better I'll keep my back to you," he tried.

Brennan sighed, knowing that she really didn't have many other options at this point.

"Fine," she reluctantly agreed, as she started to undress as well, "and I _will_ feel more comfortable if you keep your back to me."

"Fine," he told her, as he entered the bathroom, with his partner following close behind, watching him as he turned the water on.

She looked away when he shed the rest of his clothes, and did the same before they both got into the shower, keeping their backs to one another as they started to wash themselves off. They showered silently for a few minutes, trying to forget that the other was there as they focused on getting themselves clean, and, for Booth, it was working for a little bit, until he heard his partner sniff.

"Bones?" He asked, lathering some shampoo into his hair, "Are you crying?"

"Yes," she sounded ashamed as she shampooed herself as well, thrusting her hand under the water to gather some in order to rinse the shampoo out, "I'm just...thinking a lot."

"About what?" Booth asked.

"About all of the different ways that accident could have ended," she admitted, "I know it's foolish to think about what _could_ have happened...but I can't help it. Christian could have lost one of his parents...or both of his parents. And what if he was in the car? Where the car hit..." she paused, "that would have been right where he was sit-"

"Shh," Booth hushed her, turning around to face her, even though she asked him not to, but only seeing her back, "he wasn't though, okay? That's all that matters."

Brennan jumped when she felt him touch her back, turning around with alarmed eyes that met his completely calm looking ones.

"You said you would keep your back to-"

She was cut off when he cupped the back of her head gently and pulled her in for a searing kiss, their lips meeting for the first time in a month. Brennan couldn't help but to whimper against his lips at the intense feelings that kissing him again brought up, but didn't object, as she parted her own when his tongue touched her bottom lip. Instead of pushing him away, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her own tongue finding his, both of them gasping lightly when they touched. When air became a necessity, Brennan broke the kiss, inhaling deeply as their noses touched.

"I'm sorry," Booth whispered, feeling like an idiot for planting one on her when they were clearly not together anymore, even though he made no motion to pull away from her.

Brennan simply shook her head, pulling him back in and kissing him again, their mouths opening clumsily against each others as they allowed their tongues to tangle. Brennan moaned softly, her fingernails digging gently into his shoulder blade, breaking the kiss once again to pepper kisses over the line of his jaw and down his neck. She gasped against his skin when his hand tightened in her hair, causing a sharp pain in the back of her head, but ignored it, since she was too focused on kissing him at the moment to care. When his hand moved from the back of her head, she glanced down at it, noticing the red liquid on it only then, causing her to back up a little.

"Booth," he looked down at his hand as well when she spoke, "your hand is bleeding."

Booth stuck his hand under the water to rinse it off, seeing that there were no cuts on his hand. When something clicked in his mind, he touched the back of her head again, taking his hand away to see that the blood was back, confirming his suspicions.

"That's not my blood," he told her, looking at her with slightly alarmed eyes, that caused her to grow nervous as well, "it's yours."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Guys, don't get too excited yet. The break-up isn't quite over, but things are looking up, aren't they? =]**


	49. Whatever Happens, Happens

**A/N: Hello all =] I'm sorry that this took so long. My muse has not been very cooperative this week. I just haven't felt very inspired to write ****lately...not sure why, but it's whatever. xD So, without further ado, here you go. **

**And, of course, thanks to everyone who's being supportive. =] You guys are the reason I'm still writing.**

Chapter Forty-Nine:

"Whatever Happens, Happens"

"I'm so sorry, Bones," Booth told her, once the doctor checked her and confirmed that she had hit her head on her seat during the crash, and that something had just opened the cut back up afterwards.

"It's fine," she assured him, "you had no way of knowing you would have irritated the cut by touching the back of my head."

Booth drew in a deep breath, looking at the wall for a minute before turning his attention back to Brennan, who was looking anxious to get out of the hospital bed the doctor insisted she stay in while he double checked some x-rays they took.

"We should talk about...you know...what happened," Booth said, sounding slightly uncomfortable when he spoke.

"About the shower?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, the shower. And the car," he paused when she looked at him as if she didn't know what he was talking about, "you said you loved me. I didn't mention it before because I assumed it either just slipped out, or was a friendly I love you...but what happened in the shower was definitely not friendly."

"No," Brennan had to chuckle, "it definitely wasn't."

Booth took her hand in his, running his thumb affectionately over her knuckles.

"That can't happen anymore," he told her seriously, "we obviously still have feelings for each other, which is understandable, considering we were together for over a year and we were married. But we're not together anymore, so we can't...do what we were just doing."

"We probably would have had sex," Brennan told him bluntly, "you know, if I wasn't bleeding from my head," she paused, smiling a small smile, "it's probably a good thing that we didn't."

"It is," he smiled as well, "that would have just made things twenty times more complicated than they already are."

"And they're already pretty complicated," she reminded him, "who would have thought that having a head injury would save us from making a huge mistake?"

Booth chuckled and tightened his grip on her hand a bit.

"Friends," he said simply, smiling charmingly, "we're friends, and we're partners. Nothing more, nothing less," when Brennan nodded in agreement, he chuckled, "it would probably be best if you held off on telling Ricky about this when you guys are on your date tonight."

Brennan laughed as well, shaking her head as Booth let go of her hand.

"No, Ricky and I are definitely not going on that date tonight," she assured him, "I'm sure he'll understand the circumstances. My head is killing me, and I really just want to stay in with Christian tonight."

"You sure you don't want me to take him off your hands for the night?" Booth asked, "I figured you wouldn't want to deal with the noise, and having to worry about feeding him and all that. You should probably be resting today anyway."

"I think I can handle him, Booth," she assured him, "it's not like he really moves around too much. I'll just put him in his swing after he eats and he'll pass right out."

"Alright," he reluctantly caved, "just promise me you won't over do it."

"I won't," she rolled her eyes in a playfully dramatic gesture as she dragged out the last word, "you know, I kind of assumed once we broke up that you would stop being so protective."

"Of course I wouldn't," he laughed, "I'm an alpha male. It's in my blood."

"That's very true," she laughed as well, "always making sure the people you care about are well protected," she paused, her tone slightly more serious when she spoke again, "it's a truly admirable quality, Booth."

"Thanks, Bones," he kept his tone light, not wanting the conversation to grow too deep, "I knew there was _some_ reason you liked me."

"You're ridic-"

She stopped when her phone rang from where her partner was keeping it in his pocket. When he heard it, he took it out, handing it to her and allowing her to open it and press it to her ear, not doing a great job at concealing the irritation in her voice.

"Brennan."

"Bren," Ricky sighed in relief when he heard her voice, "are you okay? I saw what happened on the news. You and Booth were driven off the road by some gang members?"

"Well we don't know for sure if they were gang members, but we are certainly suspecting that they have some sort of connection to the case we're working on," she told him, rubbing the back of her neck in discomfort, "Booth and I took pictures of the dents in the car and Angela is going to see if they indicate an intentional collision."

"But you're both fine?" He asked, just to clarify.

"Yes, we're both fine. I'm in the hospital right now, but-"

"You're in the hospital? Bren, if you're in the hospital, you're not fine."

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine," she promised, "my head was bleeding so Booth drove me here just to make sure nothing was wrong, but the doctor assured me that everything is normal. He's just looking over a couple of x-rays, and then I'll be able to go home."

"I'm glad you're okay," he told her, "and don't worry about our date tonight. I think a car accident and a head injury are okay excuses to cancel."

"I feel really bad cancelling on you, Ricky," she told him honestly, even though, when she glanced up at her partner, she felt bad for speaking about her date with another man in front of him, "I want to reschedule as soon as possible."

"Yeah, of course," he chuckled, "but let's get our priorities in order here. Heal from a car accident first, and then go on a date."

"Yes, of course," Brennan laughed lightly as well, "listen, I feel bad that we can't go out tonight, so if you want to come over you're welcome to."

"Cool," he sounded cheerful on the other end of the phone, "I'll stop by later."

"Okay, I'll see you then," she told him, waiting for him to say a quick okay and a goodbye before she said goodbye as well and hung up, handing her phone back to Booth.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, "I'm sure you didn't want to hear about my plans with-"

"No, no, no, don't be sorry," he assured her, brushing it off as if it was nothing, even though it did hurt just slightly, "friends...remember?"

"I know," she said, "but it still just seems wrong to talk about my plans to go on a date with another man in front of my ex."

"Don't worry about it," he said, "we're moving on...both of us are."

Brennan nodded in agreement.

"As long as you're happy with Katherine-"

"_Kathleen_."

"If you're happy with her, then I'm happy for you," she smiled.

"I'm not really _with_ her," he reminded her, "we're kind of...friends with benefits. But not _too_ many benefits, if you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean, Booth."

"Alright," he chuckled, "I just wanted to make sure you didn't think..."

"No, I know," she assured him, "trust me, you've only mentioned it ten times."

Booth looked at her curiously, confusion all over his features.

"What do you think I'm trying to rub it in or something?" He asked, "Because if I'm mentioning it too much for Queen Bones' liking, then I'm terribly sorry."

"Well you don't have to be mean," Brennan was shocked at how quickly they went from getting along to not, "all I'm saying is that I try to be discreet about things with Ricky because I don't want to upset you, and you really don't do the same with Katherine...Kathleen...whatever her name is. You talk about her as if she's some sort of perfect human being."

"She's not perfect. Neither am I. Everyone has their flaws in one way or another," he reminded her, "so, no, I don't think she's perfect."

"Well you're not at all hesitant to jump to her defense."

"You know, Bones, is it so hard for you to accept that my life doesn't revolve around you for a change?" He asked, and she was taken aback by the harshness of his words, "Ever since I met you, my personal life has revolved around you, and it's finally getting to the point where it doesn't anymore...and we had to go screw that all up."

"What are you talking about?" Brennan asked, since he had completely lost her at that point, "How did we go from talking about how we are happy for each other to talking about how we screwed everything up?"

"I kissed you!" He exclaimed, "I kissed you, and I shouldn't have. We were fine, Bones, and then we had to kiss."

"Well I didn't-"

"You kissed back," he pointed an accusing finger at her, "this wasn't all me. You could have stopped me at any time."

Brennan pushed her hands through her hair, breathing a long sigh.

"I didn't want to stop you because I liked it," she told him flatly, seeing him look to the ceiling in frustration, "that doesn't mean that I want to get back together, because I know that, that isn't what we need right now, but I can't help that I enjoy kissing you. We've always been physically compatible, Booth. That isn't going to change."

"I know," he told her, seeming to calm down a bit, "which is why we can't kiss anymore, alright? We both like it, but it has to stop."

"I know. You think I don't know that?" she snapped slightly, taking a long pause before she spoke again, "Would this be an inappropriate time to tell you that I missed my period?"

She could see him tense up, as if she had just confessed to murder, and she suddenly felt stupid for just blurting that out.

"It hasn't been that long," she quickly tried to do damage control, "Angela says it might just be from stress...but I figured I should let you know...you know...just incase."

"Just incase...you're pregnant?" He asked.

"Well, yeah," she said meekly, "but I'm probably not."

"But there's a chance you are?"

Brennan bit her lip and looked at the wall, drawing in another deep breath.

"What are we going to do if I am?" She asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he assured her, forcing a small smile, "don't worry about it though."

"How can you tell me not to worry about it?" She asked, growing increasingly more frustrated with him the more they spoke, "I don't want to be pregnant, Booth," her voice softened when she felt the tears starting to come on, "if I'm pregnant, I'm going to have to raise a baby on my own, and-"

"Woah, woah, woah, hold the phone, Bones," he stopped her before she could go any further, "you know that if you were pregnant you wouldn't have to raise the baby on your own. You know I do my part with Chris."

"Of course," she said frantically as she sat up a bit, not wanting to make him feel like she didn't think he was a good father, "no, of course you do. You do much more than 'your part' with Christian. I'm just saying if I had another baby, it wouldn't be as simple."

Booth paused for a while, sighing a deep sigh.

"You're not pregnant," he told her, as if he knew that for a fact, "okay? You're not pregnant. We were always safe, we always used protection."

"You of all people should know that condoms aren't always effective," she reminded him, a little less than gently, reminding him of how Parker was conceived, "I assume Parker was the result of failed protection because you're always thinking about birth control before intercourse. I know Rebecca didn't get pregnant on purpose, considering she wouldn't marry you afterwards."

"Don't start with me, Bones," he warned her, "why would you even bring that up?"

"I wasn't trying to offend you or any-"

"You know, if I wasn't in charge of driving you home, I would have left after your last comment," he informed her, "anything else you wanna bring up, Temperance? Want to talk about my abusive alcoholic father too?"

"No," she promised him, smiling a small, bitter smile, "unless you want to talk about my corrupt murder of a father."

Booth wasn't finding the humor in her statement, his face expressionless. Brennan could tell that he no longer wanted to be there with her, and she knew that, subconsciously, they were both just distancing themselves. What happened between them in the shower was way too intense, and neither of them wanted to deal with that. So instead, they just pushed each other away, trying to forget that any of it ever happened..

"You know, Booth, you don't have to stay," she muttered, "I can find another ride home. I can just call Ricky and he'll-"

"No," Booth said flatly, "I'll bring you back to the lab. No need to make Ricky come all the way here."

Brennan sighed, twisting a lock of hair uncomfortably around her finger.

"Don't be mad," she requested softly.

"I'm not mad," Booth softened his voice when she did, not wanting to upset her any more than she already was.

"I'm just scared," she told him honestly, looking at the sheets underneath her hand, "I just don't want to have another baby. Now is definitely not the right time for that."

"You're right, it wouldn't be a good time," he told her, "but there's nothing we can do about it if you are, so we just have to ride it out. Whatever happens, happens."

"Okay," she murmured, clenching and unclenching her hand from around the sheets before she looked back up at him, "would you mind giving me a hug?"

"I think I can manage that," he chuckled, leaning down and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close and hugging her tightly.

Brennan laughed lightly, resting her cheek against his shoulder and inhaling his scent as she hugged him just as tightly as he was hugging her.

"You give the best hugs, Booth," she told him, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I know," he told her playfully, "I'm a great hugger. I've been told."

Brennan shook her head playfully before letting go of him, looking at him seriously, but with a smile still on her face.

"You're a great friend," she told him, her hands still on his shoulders as she spoke to him.

"Thanks, Bones," he smiled as well, resisting the urge to give her a friendly kiss on the cheek, knowing it was a little too soon for that, "so are you," he paused as they never broke their gaze, "and that's how we work. As friends."


	50. You're Still Gone

**A/N: Since I feel bad for not being a quick updated lately, I gave you guys a long chapter. =] I'm sorry about the updating becoming less frequent by the way. My muse is not being very kind to me these days.**** There's kind of a lot going on in this chapter, and it's pretty sad, but hopefully you all like it anyway. **

**The end of this chapter was inspired by the song "Breathe Me" by Sia. Honestly, ending the chapter like this didn't even cross my mind until I listened to this song.**I strongly recommend listening to it, simply because it's an amazing song, but also because it helps set the mood for the chapter's last section...if that makes any sense xD.** And the lyrics used when Brennan is in the car are from the Adele song "Someone Like You"**

Chapter Fifty:

"You're Still Gone"

Brennan was sitting on the floor with Christian in her lap and some photos spread out in front of her as she tried to organize them into a photo album. Even though Christian was too young to really help, she liked having him there, consulting him on occasion, even though she knew he was incapable of answering.

"You know who that is?" She asked, picking up a picture of she, Max, Russ, and her mother from long ago, her finger pointing to Max when she spoke to the baby, "that's grandpa, right? And that's Uncle Russ," she pointed to Russ, "and me," she pointed to herself, "and that's your grandma...but you're not going to have the chance to meet her."

Christian looked up at her when she spoke, seeming disinterested in the picture she was showing him. When she put the picture in the photo album, she looked over the rest of them in front of her, trying to figure out which pictures she wanted to put where.

"What about this one?" She asked, picking up a picture of her and the Jeffersonian team, "You know all of these people too."

Christian ignored her and reached down, grabbing the picture of her and Booth that the older woman, Gina, had snapped when they had their quickie wedding in Maryland, and clenched it in his little fist, crumpling the little Polaroid up when he did.

"No! Chris!" She snapped, pulling the picture from his hand, "Christian," she sighed, lowering her voice when she realized that she had snapped at him when he wasn't aware of what he was doing wrong, "you don't grab mommy's things."

She supported him from where he was sitting on her lap with her arm as she attempted to smooth the photo out, seeing that some of the wrinkles were now permanent.

"Well now it's ruined," she sighed, mumbling the statement more to herself than the baby, "and I don't even know where the rest of the pictures from our wedding went," trying not to be upset about something so petty, she placed the picture back on the floor, but out of Christian's reaching distance, "maybe they're still with daddy."

She looked at the baby, who was looking up at her with an innocent expression, and she couldn't help but to half smile, despite the fact that she was upset with his actions.

"I know you didn't mean to," she told him, tickling his side gently, her expression lighting up when he giggled, "it's just a picture. I'm not mad at you, sweetheart."

When he grasped her index finger and attempted to pull it into his mouth, she gently shook her hand from his grip, grabbing his pacifier from off of the coffee table and popping it between his lips, since it was apparent that he wanted something in his mouth. Once he was relaxed and happily sucking on his pacifier, Brennan picked up another picture of her mother, studying it intently. After everything that happened that day, she wished that she could just call her mother and talk to her about it, but she knew that wasn't possible. It was days like these where she longed to speak to her, and wished that she was still alive, even though she knew that there was no possible way to bring her back. Booth would tell her that if she spoke to her headstone she would feel better, but she was reluctant to do that. What was the point? She couldn't hear her anyway. Deceased people couldn't hear anything.

When she felt her stomach twist up into a knot, she set the picture down, wincing at the unexpected feeling as she glanced down at Christian, who now had his eyes closed. When she felt the same pinch in her stomach again, she stood up with him, making her way into his room and setting him down in the crib before going into her kitchen to get a glass of soda to sip on, hoping it would relax her stomach.

Sitting at the table with her glass, she sipped on it slowly, realizing only then that the feeling in her stomach was more painful than uncomfortable. Something clicked in her mind when the realization hit her, and she quickly put her cup in the sink and rushed into the bathroom, her mind barely keeping up with her body as she did.

* * *

><p>"I've gotta say," Kathleen laughed, as she snuggled under the covers with her 'friend' in his bed, a bag of candy between them, "you look handsome all cut up like that. It makes you look like some kind of warrior."<p>

"I am some kind of warrior," Booth laughed jokingly, "I'm the best kind of warrior."

"Oh," Kathleen had to laugh as well, rolling her eyes with a smile on her face, "the arrogance, Seeley. Sometimes it makes me nauseous."

"Arrogant is such a harsh word," he told her, "I prefer-"

"Cocky?" She asked, "Like your belt buckle says?"

"That works," he shrugged, "I'm sure there's better words than that too. Like you could just say that I'm...confident."

Kathleen laughed a genuine laugh.

"I think saying that you're confident would be an understatement," she told him, "and trust me, the arrogance isn't a bad thing. I've met plenty of people who are just complete ego-maniacs, and those people are completely unlikeable. You're not. You're quite the opposite."

Booth looked at her curiously when she mentioned ego-maniacs, able to tell by the look on her face that she was referring to one person who was an ego-maniac rather than the 'plenty of people' who she mentioned.

"Your ex fiancé?" He asked.

"Yes," she told him seriously, "I could swear that man thought he was the second coming of Jesus Christ."

"Why'd you agree to marry him if he was a jerk?" Booth asked, out of pure curiosity, "I mean, he was cheating on you and he was an ego-maniac...so what did you see in him?"

"He had a lot of good traits too," she shrugged, but shook her head in disgust afterwards, "not enough to make up for all the bad things though. That's why I called it off."

"You shouldn't take someone back if they cheat on you," he told her, "it's just giving them permission to do it again."

"Is that why you won't sleep with me?" She became bold enough to ask, "Because you're afraid, if you do, that Temperance won't consider taking you back at any point?"

"No," Booth chuckled in spite of the seriousness of that topic, shaking his head, "even if I did sleep with you, I wouldn't be cheating on her. Sure, legally we're still married, but we're not together anymore. I even told her that if she wants to be with Ricky, it's her decision."

"But you don't want her to be?" Kathleen asked.

"It doesn't matter what I want," he told her, obviously avoiding answering the question, "it's her decision. If she wants to be with him just because he's young and able to charm her with his sad, puppy dog eyes, then she can be."

"You think his motives are bad?"

"No, I think he's a good guy who fell for someone he's not going to be able to handle," Booth explained, "Bones is too mature for him. He's not going to be able to keep up with her. She's all over the place...not in a bad way...but she won't be able to have a successful relationship with someone who doesn't understand her."

"Like you did?" She asked.

"Well not to sound arrogant," he smiled a small smile when he used her word, "but I understand her the way a lot of other people can't. And the same goes for her. We just get each other in a way that no one else really does."

"The bond between you two must have been incredibly strong," Kathleen commented, "I've been curious, Seeley. I know that you two broke up because of all the problems with Young Guy and the two of you not getting along as well anymore, but you never told me why you got married in the first place. What did you see in her?"

"It wasn't a matter of what I saw in her, it's a matter of what she _is_. She's not a bad person like your ex-fiancé," he told her, "Bones and I were work partners for a while before we ever took the romantic step in our relationship," he explained, "we always kind of had a thing for each other, but we were both professionals so we didn't do anything about it...until last year."

"What made you guys change your minds?"

"There was a thunderstorm-"

"Like tonight?"

"Yeah, like tonight, but maybe not as bad. But, anyway, there was a thunderstorm, and we were out to dinner, and afterwards things just kind of got-"

Booth stopped when there was a knock on his door, groaning in irritation as he got out from under the covers and stood up.

"I should go see who that is," he said.

"Yeah, of course," Kathleen assured him, "and do you mind if I hop in the shower real quick, considering you're making me stay the night?"

"I'm not making you do anything, I'd just rather you not kill yourself by driving in this," he chuckled, reaching down to poke her side playfully, causing her to squirm, "but yeah, go ahead."

"Kiss for good luck?" She tried, with a small, semi-seductive smile.

"You need good luck to take a shower?" Booth asked, a smile on his face as well.

"I might."

Booth leaned down and kissed her, letting their lips mingle until another knock on the door reminded him of what he was supposed to be doing.

"Alright, I really gotta go get the door now," he separated their lips with a small laugh, offering her one last peck before leaving the room and going to open the front door.

When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Brennan standing there, without the baby, and with tear stained cheeks, her arms crossed across her chest as she looked up at him with puffy eyes.

"Hey," he said, trying to hide the surprise in his voice as he observed the trail from her tears left on her cheeks, beginning to panic a little when he pieced together the fact that she was crying and Christian was not with her, "are you okay? Did something happen to Chris?"

"No, Chris is fine," she assured him quickly, "he's with Max," she paused, looking at the floor then back up at him before she spoke again, "can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, of course," he told her, "you wanna come in?"

"No," she shook her head, and he could see the tears build up in her eyes again, as much as she was trying to hold them back, "I probably shouldn't."

"No, don't be ridiculous. Come in. You shouldn't have been driving in this weather in the first place, and now you're soaked," he opened the door a little bit wider in invitation, but she just shook her head again, still declining the offer, "come on, Bones. Come inside and I'll get you a towel."

"Booth," her voice was weak, but still firm, "I don't want to."

"Okay," he said gently, seeing that something was really bothering her, "are you alright?"

"I don't know," she whispered ashamedly, blinking back her tears.

"Bones, you're really starting to scare me," he told her, "what happened?"

When Brennan opened her mouth to explain why she was there and what happened, she was cut off by a voice that she didn't recognize. It sounded soft and innocent, and completely happy, which Brennan knew was something she hadn't felt in a while.

"Seeley, where the hell did you hide the towels?" She laughed, stopping short, her smile fading when she saw who was standing at the door, "Oh...hi."

"Hi," Brennan's voice was obviously pained when she spoke, exchanging glances between her ex and his new 'girlfriend', "sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"Oh, no, I was just going to take a shower," Kathleen explained, holding out her hand to the woman in the doorway, "I'm Kathleen."

"I know," Brennan said, knowing she was unintentionally sounding cold, "I've heard a lot about you," she reluctantly shook her hand, "Temperance Brennan."

"I've heard quite a lot about you too," she laughed lightly, "it's nice to finally meet you in the flesh."

"Yes, the same goes for you. Although I was expecting you to be blonde," she glanced up at her ex after she spoke, seeing that Kathleen looked a little confused by her last comment, "I'm going to leave though and let you two get back to doing...whatever you were doing."

"We weren't doing anything," Booth told her, seeming slightly flustered.

"Okay," Brennan didn't have the strength to argue with him, going to close the door before he stopped her.

"You shouldn't be driving around in this," he told her.

"I'm just going home, Booth," she responded calmly, "I'll be fine."

Booth looked at her skeptically, knowing that she was up to something.

"Go straight home, okay? No detours."

"I am," she snapped just slightly, "and even if I wasn't, that isn't any of your business."

"I'm dead serious, Bones, if you start driving around and get into an accident, I'm going to feel responsible. So just go home, alright? And call me tomorrow, because you said you wanted to talk."

"It isn't important," she told him, "just forget about it."

Before he had the chance to respond, she closed the door, leaving him standing there feeling immensely confused. Even though she told him to forget about it, he knew he wouldn't be able to, and even though she told him she was going straight home, he couldn't help but to have a feeling that she wasn't.

"She seems nice," Kathleen commented waiting for him to respond, "Seeley?" She asked, when she realized that he was just staring blankly at the door, "Is everything okay with you guys?"

"Yeah," he told her flatly, snapping out of his trance and turning to look at her, "I'm really sorry, Kat, but I've gotta go."

"Are you going after her?" She asked.

Booth nodded, grabbing his jacket from where he had tossed it onto the back of the couch and pulling it over his shoulders.

"She's not going home," he told her simply, "I know we're not together anymore, but I can't let her hurt herself by driving around in this kind of weather."

"Do you know where she's going?"

"I have a feeling," he told her, "and I'm probably wrong, because I'm thinking of a place where she would probably never go without someone forcing her to...but I just feel like that's where she's going. Don't ask why," he looked at Kathleen seriously after he spoke, cupping her cheek in his hand and kissing her softly, "be careful driving home, okay? I know you're not going to want to stay here if I'm leaving."

Kathleen reached up to touch his cheek in return, a small smile on her face.

"I promise," she told him.

* * *

><p><em>I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited<br>but I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it  
>I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded<br>that for me, it's not over._

_Never mind I'll find someone like you.  
>I wish nothing but the best for you too.<em>  
>'<em>Don't forget me,' I begged, 'I'll remember', you said<br>Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead.  
>Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead.<em>

Brennan jerked down the volume knob for the radio in her car so it was silent in the small space, since she was not in any mood to listen to break up songs at the moment. As she pulled up to her desired destination, she sat there for a minute, wondering why she had decided to go there in the first place. This wasn't going to help. But, at the moment, she felt as if there was no one else she could talk to. Even though her mother couldn't hear her, she was the only person she wanted to speak with at the moment.

As soon as she stepped out of the car, she could feel the cold rain pelt her head, re-wetting the hair that had started to dry in the car as she walked over to where she knew her mother was buried. When she reached the tomb stone, she kneeled down in the mud in front of it, staring blankly at the words inscribed into the stone.

"Mom," she started, speaking loud enough to be heard over the rain and wind, which was now whipping violently around her, "I know this is stupid...and I know you can't hear me."

She paused, looking at the muddy grass underneath her knees and shaking her head.

"This is foolish," she muttered, "but I have no where else to go. So, since you can't hear me, I'm not going to continue to talk. I'm just going to stay here with you. I'm not going to speak until I have proof that you can hear me."

Brennan closed her eyes as thunder cracked in the distance, simply listening to the rain hitting the ground around her in a noisy fashion. She wasn't sure if she had been sitting there for five minutes or five hours when she felt someone's shoulder brush up against hers when they kneeled next to her. When she opened her eyes, she saw a single rose lying in front of the headstone, and she turned to look at her partner who was kneeling next to her, his head bowed and his eyes closed. She waited until his eyes opened again, knowing that he had been praying, before she spoke.

"She would have liked you, Booth," She told him, knowing that if he hadn't been so close to her, he wouldn't have heard her over the rain, "how did you know I was here?"

"I just know you," he told her, turning his head to look at the side of her face, "I had a feeling you were coming here. The anniversary of her death is in a few weeks. You've probably been thinking about her a lot."

"Yeah," Brennan admitted with a small nod, hoping that he thought it was just rain running down her cheeks. She paused for a long time before she finally spoke again, "I lost the baby, Booth. I had a miscarriage."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" He asked, knowing what she meant, but refusing to let his mind process it at the moment.

"I was pregnant...they did a blood test at the hospital," she explained.

"So when we had that whole conversation about the possible pregnancy..."

"I knew," she admitted, "I didn't want to tell you yet. Bringing it up then was my way of seeing how you would react. I was going to tell you, once I came to see that you would have reacted positively...but I lost the baby before I got to," she looked up at the sky, her chest heaving with a silent sob, "it's not fair."

"I know," he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "the little guy never had a chance."

Brennan shook her head, trying to pull herself together.

"It's not even just about the baby, Booth," she told him, "it wasn't even a baby yet, but it's just knowing that I can never get that back...it's not a pleasant feeling."

"Sure you can," he tried to be reassuring, "you can get pregnant again when you're ready. When you find a guy you love and want to spend your life with."

"That's the problem," she raised her voice a little, even though it was crackling with the sobs she was holding back, "everyone I love has to go away," she turned to look at him, her eyes nearly burning through him, "you promised you would never leave me."

"Temperance, you know that under the circumstances-"

"I don't care about the circumstances!" She exclaimed, "I loved you! And when we first got together, I made you promise that you were never going to leave me...and you did promise. But you broke that promise. Now you're gone...and our unborn child is gone...and the only thing I have left is Christian. I'm so scared that he's next, Booth," her voice cracked, "I'm so scared."

Booth could feel his chest ache as he watched her cry, grieving everything she had lost, and fearing that she was going to lose her son too. It made him regret the turn their relationship had taken. It made him regret ever breaking his promise to her.

"I'm so sorry," he said softly, "I'm so sorry, Bones. I made a promise that I didn't keep, and you wound up hurt because of it."

"It was only a matter of time before you were ripped away from me," she muttered.

"No, Temperance, look at me," he touched her cheek gently, drawing her eyes to his, "I'm not gone the way your mother is, or the way our unborn baby is."

"You're still gone," she whispered, subconsciously rubbing her cheek against the familiar feel of the inside of his palm, "you're still gone."

Instead of trying to explain to her that he wasn't, he just pulled her into a tight hug, allowing her to rest her head against his shirt, which was now soaking wet, as her shoulders shook with the sobs that he could hear muffled against the fabric of his shirt.

"Shh...it's okay," he whispered into her ear, rubbing her back gently, "I'm right here, Bones. I'm right here. I'll always be here, okay?"

Brennan simply nodded against his shoulder, even though she wasn't buying into his words, allowing him to hold her, and try his best to comfort her.

Booth couldn't seem to forget the fact that they were right in front of her mother's grave, and felt ashamed for hurting this woman's daughter like this, reducing her to tears, right in front of her.

_I'm sorry, Christine_, he spoke to the deceased woman in his head, _I'm sorry I did this to her._


	51. Don't Pretend You Forgot

**A/N: Hey guys =] I just wanted to thank everyone who's still reading and being supportive =] It really means a lot, and I know a lot of you are saying that you want B&B back together, and I just want to remind you all that good things will come with time. I don't want to rush anything, you know? And hopefully the fact that I'm in a bad mood didn't come out in my writing. xD **

Chapter Fifty-One:

"Don't Pretend You Forgot"

"See? Then he turned from a little caterpillar into a big butterfly," Max explained to the three month old, pointing to the picture in the book, "but you're not going to be a butterfly, are you, Christian?" He glanced up quickly when someone knocked on the front door, turning his attention back to the baby he was reading to, "it's open."

Booth stepped inside uncomfortably, unsure of how Max felt about him now that he and his daughter were no longer together. If he had to guess, he would assume he was not his biggest fan. Even though he liked him when he was with Brennan, Max was a protective father, and he probably wouldn't continue to like someone who broke up with his 'little girl', as he called her.

"Hey," Booth greeted him in a quiet voice, "sorry, I'm dripping all over your floor."

Christian reacted to Booth's voice, looking over to his father with wide eyes.

"Looks like someone's excited you see you, Booth," Max chuckled, "we just got finished reading 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. And don't worry about the floor. What are you doing here? Tempe said I could keep Chris for the night."

"Something came up...and she's a little upset, so she wanted him back," Booth explained, "she was going to come get him, but I don't want her driving in her condition, and plus the weather's horrible, so I just figured it would be safer for her to go straight home."

"Alright," Max shrugged, standing up and handing the baby to his father, "you two back together yet or what?"

"No," Booth chuckled lightly, looking down at Christian when he grasped his wet shirt in his hand, "no, we're not. Which is why I felt kind of bad just showing up here."

"You don't have to feel uncomfortable around me," Max shrugged casually, "from what I understand you two just decided it was better to go your separate ways."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened," Booth confirmed.

"Well, even though I don't really agree with the decision you and Tempe made, I can respect it. You're both adults, and you both know what you think is best," he had to smile after he spoke, "besides, why am I going to waste my time disliking you when you and my daughter will be back together within the next few months?"

"What?" Booth asked, caught off guard by the last comment, since he was splitting his focus between Max and Christian, "No, Bones and I aren't getting back together. We broke up because we knew it would be best for us and the baby."

"Whatever you say, son," he chuckled, not even realizing how surprised Booth was that he still referred to him as 'son', as if nothing had changed, "remember last year when I told you that she glows when she talks about you? Well, she still does, even though she doesn't realize it. And you...you still get this look in your eyes when you talk about her too."

"Max, not trying to rain on your parade or anything but-"

"The heart wants what it wants, son," Max cut him off, "in your case, yours wants Tempe, and vice versa," he told him casually, "what happened anyway? Why is she upset?"

"It's nothing," Booth lied, knowing that Brennan probably didn't want anyone knowing that she lost the baby that no one knew she was pregnant with in the first place, "she's just not feeling herself. You know how it is. She'll be alright by morning."

"Yeah. She'll want you to stay with her tonight though."

"No," Booth shook his head with a weak chuckle, "she won't."

"Sure she will," Max said, as if he knew this for a fact, "you're the only person she wants to be with when she's upset. I know there were a few times, before the two of you were even a couple, that she'd get upset and then mumble something about how she was going to talk to Booth. You make her feel better without even trying. Apparently that isn't my strong suit. I feel like I usually just make it worse, if she's not upset because of me in the first place. You keep her grounded, Booth. You keep her from spinning out of control when she gets emotional."

Booth was close to telling Max that there was no way that she wanted to be with him that night more than he wanted to be with her, especially after finding out about her miscarriage, but kept the thought to himself. He was trying to forget about the fact that they could have had another beautiful baby boy or girl, and now it was gone, but wasn't succeeding.

"She did fine without me for the first twenty-seven years of her life," he reminded his ex father-in-law, "she doesn't need me. She's a strong, smart, independent woman."

"She doesn't need you," Max confirmed, "but she wants you. And she loves you."

Booth wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, so he simply nodded, keeping his attention focused on the baby in his arms, who was now squirming, making it clear that he wanted to be put down.

"I'm gonna get Chris back to his mama," he tickled the baby's side gently when he spoke of him, "I think he misses her."

"Oh, yeah, go ahead. It's late, I know you probably want to get home," when Booth half smiled and turned to leave Max stopped him, "Booth," he caught his attention, "you don't have to say it...but I know."

"Know what?" Booth asked.

"That you're still in love with my daughter," he explained, "I won't say anything to her if you don't want me to. But if you want me to just throw it out there..."

"No, it's fine," Booth chuckled uncomfortably, "just...don't say anything."

"Alright, I won't," Max assured him, "Tempe's a smart woman. She'll be able to figure it out on her own. And if you both stop being so damn stubborn, maybe you'll be back together before you know it."

* * *

><p>Brennan was sitting on the couch in her silent apartment, freshly showered and wrapped in her little silk robe as she stared blankly at the wall, thinking about everything that had happened that night, from the miscarriage to her breakdown in the cemetery. She couldn't help but to feel guilty for snapping at Booth the way she did, telling him that he broke his promise, and basically telling him that everything that was happening was his fault. She knew that all of this was just as much her fault as it was his.<p>

When the door to her apartment opened, she turned her head to look at it, a small smile coming to her face for the first time in a few hours when she saw Christian sucking happily on his pacifier as he looked around the apartment with big eyes.

"Hey," Booth greeted her softly, "you have a little visitor."

She smiled and thanked him when he handed Christian to her, and she held him tight to her chest, kissing his head gently as she cuddled him. When she took the pacifier out of his mouth, he smiled a gummy grin and looked at her with interested eyes as she picked him up and allowed him to balance on his two feet, even though she was holding the vast majority of his weight.

"Were you good for grandpa?" She asked in a sweet voice, knowing that he couldn't answer, "Did you guys have fun?"

"Apparently they read a book about a caterpillar that was hungry," Booth told her, taking a seat next to her on the couch and looking at her sympathetically, "are you okay, Bones?"

Brennan set the baby back into a seated position on her lap, looking over to her partner with eyes that still indicated that she wasn't feeling one hundred percent.

"As okay as I'm going to be right now," she told him, "but, admittedly, I do feel a little better now that I have Chris here."

"Good," he half smiled, "I just want you to know...I'm upset too."

"I know you are," she told him, "I have the comfort in telling myself that it wasn't a baby yet, but you don't think about it that way."

"You're right," he confirmed, "I don't."

Brennan kissed her son's head gently, grateful that she still had him.

"It was the size of a grain of rice," she told Booth, biting her lip to hold back the tears when she spoke about the embryo she had lost, "it didn't even have a beating heart yet."

"I know," his voice was soft, a slight feeling of grief washing over him as well.

"One month and one week," she whispered, "that was how long I'd been pregnant for," she paused, biting the inside of her cheek and looking at the floor under her, "I wonder if it would have been a girl. I know you wanted a girl."

"Hey," Booth touched her shoulder gently, "just try not to think about all of that right now," he rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, waiting a few seconds before he spoke again, "you want me to make you some of that herbal tea you love?"

Brennan shook her head, watching as Christian's eyes fluttered between open and closed.

"I'm not really in the mood for tea," she told him, "but thank you for offering."

"Anytime," he assured her, "you want me to put Chris to bed? I think he's tired."

Brennan was going to insist that she was capable of laying the baby in the crib, but she realized that maybe he just needed to hold him for a little bit, the way she had. So, without hesitation, she handed him the baby, and he stood up, taking him to his crib.

When he disappeared into the baby's room, Brennan went to get a bottle of wine that she had bought a while back but never opened, and popped the cork out before pouring it into a glass.

"Is that why you didn't want tea?" Her partner's voice behind her startled her, but she didn't turn to look at him as she finished pouring her glass.

"Kind of," she admitted, "I figured this situation called for alcohol rather than tea," she turned around so she was facing him, noticing that he had quickly changed into dry clothes that he still had at her apartment. She swished the bottle lightly, "you want some?"

"Nah, no thanks, I have to get home," he declined her offer politely, "it's getting pretty late."

"Yes, it's already late," she confirmed, "so staying for a glass of wine won't really make a difference. And, I mean, since the weather is the way it is...if you wanted to, I don't know, stay here or something, I have a big enough bed for both of us."

Booth was surprised by the offer, even though Max had already told him that she was going to want him to stay. When his ex father-in-law first stated that, he brushed it off, figuring it was just Max's wishful thinking, but, apparently, he was right.

"Do you _want_ me to stay?" He asked, "Or are you just offering?"

"I just don't think it would be safe for you to drive," she seemed a little embarrassed when she spoke, "between being tired and the fact that it's not safe to drive in the rain in the first place," she paused, not completing her thought, "but you don't have to stay if you think it would be weird to share a bed."

"Bones, we shared a bed for a year, it's not weird for me," he chuckled, "I just don't want it to be weird for _you_."

"It's not," she assured him, with a quick shake of her head, "now do you want some wine or not?" She smiled when he did, "It should at least help us get our minds off things for a while."

"Why not?" He chuckled, "Pour me a glass, would ya' Bones?"

* * *

><p>"Ah, shit, Bones," Booth's words were frantic, but his tone was anything but, as he relaxed on her couch, his back against the cushions and his partner curled up next to him, "you shouldn't be drinking like this while you're breast-feeding."<p>

Brennan shook her head, taking another sip of the whisky she had pulled out about an hour after they started with the wine, reminding him that wine and whisky went well together.

"I transferred enough breast milk into bottles to last for a while," she told him, "by the time I need to transfer more, the alcohol will be out of my system."

"You sure?" He asked, as she rested her head against his shoulder with a yawn.

Brennan nodded and closed her eyes, turning her head so her nose was pressed against the crook of his neck. The alcohol seemed to be blurring the line, and even though they weren't too drunk to function, and they were sober enough to still have their sense of judgement, they were being more affectionate with each other than they had been in a long time.

"I'm cold," she told him, her breath warm against his skin.

Booth wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to exchange body heat as he rubbed his hands gently up and down her arms.

"Better?" He asked.

"Not really," she laughed lightly, peeking up at him with innocent eyes, "I kind of want to go to bed, but Chris will be up within an hour to eat."

"I'll take care of him," he assured her, "you can go to sleep."

"Will you come lay with me until Christian wakes up then?" She asked.

"Yeah, of course," he chuckled, "I'll even carry you to your room if you want."

He laughed again when he received a playful punch to the shoulder.

"You know I don't like being carried," she told him, "don't pretend you forgot."

"I know, I know," he unwrapped his arms from around her and stood up from the couch, offering her his hand.

Brennan took it without hesitation and pulled herself up, allowing him to follow her down the hallway and to her bedroom. When they stepped inside and she turned the light on, Booth couldn't help but to recall all of the different times they had made love in that bed. As he pushed the thoughts from his head, he was unaware that she was having to do the same thing.

"Are you going to sleep now?" She asked, "Or are you going to wait until after Chris is fed and put back to bed?"

"I'll probably wait," he told her, "but don't let that stop you."

Brennan said something that he couldn't quite make out as she climbed into bed, waiting for him to join her before she turned herself around and snuggled into his chest. Not having to think twice about it, Booth wrapped his arms back around her, looking down at her as she laid with him, her eyes open and looking blankly at the wall.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked, wrapping a lock of her hair around his index finger.

"I'll tell you what I'm thinking about, but I don't need a penny."

Booth didn't bother to inform her that it was just an expression. He just simply stayed quiet, giving her a silent signal to continue.

"Friends don't do this, you know," she said, simply, "cuddle like this."

"I know," he told her, "but we're not just friends, Bones."

"We're not a couple either."

"You're right, we're not a couple. But we used to be."

"So?"

"So we were married, and we share a child together. We're not just ordinary friends. You're right, Bones. Friends don't do this...but no one has to know about it."

"So you want to have sex and then not tell anyone about it?" She asked, not exactly following his logic.

Normally he would have been taken aback by her bluntness, but the alcohol in his system seemed to make him less tightly wound than he would have been.

"No, I never said anything about sex," he chuckled, unwrapping her hair from around his finger so he could poke the tip of her nose affectionately, "_that_ would be too much, but just laying here in each other's arms...that's okay."

"Says you?" She asked, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, says me," he confirmed, "isn't that all that matters?"

Brennan turned herself onto her stomach, her chin resting against his chest as she looked up at him with amusement in her eyes.

"I guess," she laughed lightly, "well as long as I agree, right?"

"Of course," he chuckled.

Brennan smiled, and he saw her eyes light up sincerely for the first time since they had broken up.

"Well I do, incase you were wondering."

"Good to know," he smoothed a hand down her shoulder blade, "very good to know," he watched as she turned back onto her side and rested her cheek comfortably against his chest, "night, Bones."

"Goodnight, Booth," she responded serenely, letting her eyes fall shut.


	52. I Bid You All Farewell (Please Read)

**I bid you all farewell.**

Writing fan fiction on this website had its ups and downs. I got some pretty negative feedback sometimes, to the point where I didn't even want to keep writing because I felt as if maybe it just wasn't my thing. But then I always remembered the people who were so kind to me, and told me how talented I was for my age. All of you who supported me made me who I am as a writer today, and it's because of you that I continue to follow that passion today, to the point where I'm going to major in journalism once I go to college next year.

I started writing fan fiction when I was about fifteen years old. Now I'm going to be eighteen in October and I've grown so much as both a writer and a person. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me along the way, and to everyone who was so kind as to take the time out of their day to read and comment on what I put hours of work in to.

I hate to leave you all like this, but I've moved on from writing fan fiction. I just don't have the drive to do it anymore, and I hope you all understand. It was never my intention to leave the story open, and to keep you all guessing, but things don't always happen as planned. I want you all to know that Booth and Brennan were supposed to get a happy ending with Christian as a family. I would never destroy the couple we all fell so deeply in love with.

Now this isn't goodbye forever. While it's doubtful, maybe one day I will come back to writing fan fiction if the mood ever strikes again. I appreciate you all so much, and I want to stay in touch. I've started posting some of my original works on another website, and I'd absolutely love it if you all could support me with my original works much like you did with my fan fiction. Also, I've decided to start a blog today for those of you who want to keep in touch. The links to my original works and my new blog will be **in my profile**, for those of you who are interested.

So, with that being said, I want to thank you all one last time for everything. This is where I blossomed as a writer, and it was all thanks to the brilliant talent around me, and the kind words of the people who read my works. I love you all, and hopefully we can stay in touch via my blog or the site where I post my original works.

So hopefully this isn't goodbye, just 'see you later'. 3 Feel free to private message me too for further details.


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